Massachusetts AG Issues Proposed Paid Sick Leave Regulations

Author: Ashley Shaw, XpertHR Legal Editor

May 1, 2015

In November, Massachusetts voters approved a paid sick leave ballot measure that will require an employer to provide paid sick leave if it has more than 10 employees, or unpaid sick leave if it has10 or fewer employees. The law is set to go into effect on July 1. However, numerous questions have come up regarding how the new law should be implemented.

In order to address these concerns, the Massachusetts Attorney General's Office has released several proposed regulations. There will be six public hearings to allow individuals and businesses to voice their concerns and queries.

The proposed regulations attempt to clear up misunderstandings by defining many words used in the sick leave law, such as employer, earned sick time and calendar year. While this may have narrowed down potential confusions to a degree, there is still some flexibility to the terms. For example, the term calendar year is defined as "Any consecutive 12-month period of time as determined by an employer."

Listening sessions will be held on May 11, 15 and 18. The hearings will be held on May 18, 22 and 29, and June 1 and 5. Interested parties can find the locations and times listed in the proposed regulations.

Employers should evaluate their leave policies to make sure they are aligned with both the new paid sick leave law and the proposed regulations.