As some of you may know, paid sick leave laws have been all the rage, as more and more jurisdictions have been either passing laws or at the very least introducing bills which would require employers to provide employees with paid sick leave days. Just last month, California's Healthy Workplace Healthy Family Act took effect, which guarantees up to three (3) days paid sick leave to CA workers that work for thirty (30) or more days within a year of becoming employed. |
While the alleged Executive Order, as reported by The New York Times is still in draft form, rumor is that its coverage will be broad. Specifically, the word is that it will set a minimum of 56 hours (7 days) of paid sick leave; it will apply not only to the employee's own illness, but may cover situations that FMLA leave covers (i.e., caring for a spouse, child, parent); and will require employers to allow unused paid leave to accrue. In any event, such a requirement will be guaranteed to have a significant impact on federal contractors, particularly the legitimately small contractors.
While the mandate of paid sick leave could extend beyond the federal marketplace in the future, at this point federal contractors are the target. We will monitor this issue closely and provide updates as they become available.