Paid Sick Leave Draft Sample Policies

What are the rules for employees who are paid 100% on commission?

I notice that some of the sample profiles state that a MINIMUM of 40 hours will carry over. Shouldn't these say a MAXIMUM of 40 hours will carry over to the next year?

I am a small business owner and of course this is going to be a financial impact as well for our company. Has there been discussion for small businesses with under 10 employees. I would also like some clarification when we have to grant a day off. If they work an 8 hour day and request it off, would they be eligible if they have not accrued 8 hours yet. Thanks

With regards to Sick Leave, as so many employers already offer PTO Benefits that are far more generous that the upcoming Sick Leave requirements. I assume that many (employers) would like to incorporate the new Sick Leave accrual allowance (and roll-over) as part of the already existing PTO Policy (much like those in Seattle and Tacoma did previously). I concur with so many others whom have already commented in the need for further clarification of a compliant PTO Policy as well as some 'proposed' language. It would be great if this can be discussed in the upcoming webinars too. Thank you.

Regarding paid sick leave policy. there is a statement that there is no limit to the amount of sick time that can be accrued. per fair labor standards act, all accruals max out when the annual work hours exceed 2080 per accrual year. I would submit to the state that this policy flow down from the federal to the state for uniformity of application.

Regarding your reasonable notice sample policy and form:

1) the first bullet under unforeseeable absences, it shows 1 hours. This should be an employer fill in section as many jobs require 4-6 hours notice before the shift start so replacement personnel can be coordinated for the shift start.

2) the "per policy....." statement on the sick leave request form, should have the number of days for planned sick leave rather than the unplanned. additionally, it should reference the unplanned with the employer determined minimum notice to be completed upon returning to work.

Regarding Frontload sample policy letter: the final paragraph states that if an employee used more sick leave than authorized, the company will not seek repayment. using, I.e. being paid for more sick leave than authorized, is an over payment of wages. Seeking repayment of over paid wages should always be an option of the employer.

Regarding verification: the second bullet under acceptable verification "a written statement by the employee that they needed it" is not verification by a medical professional and entirely nullifies the first bullet statement.

"A minimum of 40 hours of unused, accrued paid sick leave will be carried over to the next year......". Shouldn't this read "A maximum of 40 hours...." will be carried over?

regarding your paid sick leave policy sample. Under authorized uses I would suggest the wording on the first bullet be changed from "An employee’s mental or physical illness, injury or health condition;"
to:
"An employee’s physical illness, injury or Physical or Mental health condition;" .

Reason: Sick leave first and foremost should be used for illness, then non-job related injuries and then health conditions. If the current wording for the first bullet is left as it is, it opens the door for a great deal of abuse to 'whims' rather than actual issues. If mental health is an issue, then it should be judged by a professional which is certainly covered by several points listed in your sample policy.

Is there no recourse for small businesses with only part time employees and no more than 4 employees? It is hard enought just to pay employees and be competitive in small businesses but this seems a bit over board with all the extra money we will have to pay out on top of the new minimum wage rules going up each year. It is put some of us out of business. Employees will take full advantage of this rule and we will have a hard time as small businesses to keep our businesses open with employees taking time off for no reason than they want to stay home. I am a veteran and woman owned business and this is going to put two employees out of work since I cannot afford this with extra pay also. You need to work out something for smaller businesses with no more than 4 to 6 part time or full time employees or businesses that are veteran or woman owned only.

your employee paid sick leave notification is inaccurate. it is a MAXIMUM of 40 hours unused sick leave can be transferred, not a minimum. both sections are inaccurate.

It seems a bit more clarification would be helpful with regard to PTO policies and record keeping: If on a PTO program is it still required to report sick leave (accrued/use/balance) seperately when notifying employees monthly? If so, this would confuse the PTO concept of one bucket of time. Thank you.

I agree with Ellen's comments below. It seems unreasonable and can be very disruptive to business operations to not have an accrual cap or at least allow front loading each year with no carryover (similar to Oregon sick leave). I also agree there should not be a requirement to provide a notification letter to employees and a workplace poster should be sufficient.

Sample Policy: VERIFICATION - Am I correctly understanding that verification for absences exceeding three days may be satisfied by either a health care providers statement or by the employee's oral/written statement? Or is this sample policy written to allow the employer to select either of the bulleted items? If the employee has the choice of doctor's note or a personal oral/written statement the employee would rarely choose doctor's note.

I have not seen any language about a cap for amount of PTO an employer is required to allow an employee to use. In Seattle and Tacoma the reg's read "with total use not to exceed 40 hours in any calendar year". Will the Washington PTO have a similar cap?
Also, I think the employee notification will be cumbersome to administer. Can this be handled in the form of a workplace poster?

Hello. I am requesting certain language to be added to this policy in regards to the ability to access & use an employees accrued EIB/Sick leave balance without restriction, as long as it follows said guidelines. The current policy at my employer (Providence Everett Medical Center) is that the first 16 hours of sick leave is redirected to Vacation PTO to be used, then EIB/illness bank is accessed. This creates a situation where employees come in to work sick, as they do not have PTO to use, or want to use their PTO. Thank you.