Sick Leave Policies: Key Drafting Tips

Summary

This practice note addresses best practices for drafting sick leave policies. While federal law generally does not require private employers to provide their employees with sick leave, an increasing number of states and local municipalities have passed legislation requiring employers to provide employees with paid and/or unpaid sick leave. For example, Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, the District of Columbia, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Washington have passed such legislation. Additionally, numerous municipalities have passed sick leave ordinances, including Berkley (CA), Los Angeles (CA), Oakland (CA), San Diego (CA), San Francisco (CA), Santa Monica (CA), Chicago (IL), Minneapolis/St. Paul (MN), Jersey City (NJ), New York City (NY), Portland (OR), Philadelphia (PA), Pittsburgh (PA), Seattle (WA), Tacoma (WA), and Austin (TX). Therefore, an employer must consider these state and local ...