Massachusetts Voters Approve Paid Sick Leave

Author: Gloria Ju

November 7, 2014

On Tuesday, Massachusetts voters approved a paid sick leave ballot measure, which will take effect July 1, 2015. This makes Massachusetts the third state, behind California and Connecticut, to require employers to provide paid sick time.

Paid sick leave laws previously passed in the District of Columbia and over a dozen cities across the nation, including New York City and San Francisco. On Election Day, three municipalities joined this growing list:

  • Oakland, California;
  • Montclair, New Jersey; and
  • Trenton, New Jersey.

Under Massachusetts' new law, employers with 11 or more full-time, part-time or temporary employees must provide employees with one hour of paid sick time for every 30 hours worked, up to 40 hours of paid sick time per year. Smaller employers must provide unpaid sick time.

Sick time may be used for the following reasons:

  • To care for the employee's own illness, injury or medical condition or that of the employee's family member (i.e., a spouse, child, parent or parent-in-law);
  • To attend the employee's or a family member's routine medical appointments; and
  • To address issues related to domestic violence.

Employees will begin accruing sick time on July 1, 2015, or on the date of hire, whichever is later. Accrued sick time may not be used until the 90th calendar day after employment begins. Then, employees may use earned sick time as it accrues.

Employees will be allowed to carry over up to 40 hours of unused earned sick time to the next calendar year, but may not use more than 40 hours in one calendar year. Unused earned sick time need not be paid out upon termination of employment.

An employee must make a good-faith effort to provide advance notice to the employer when the need for leave is foreseeable. An employer may require an employee who is absent more than 24 consecutively scheduled work hours to certify the absence.

Acceptable certification includes any reasonable documentation signed by a health care provider indicating the need for earned sick time. An employer may not, however, require the documentation to explain the nature of the illness or the details of the domestic violence.

The attorney general will prepare a notice of rights that employers must give to each employee and post in a conspicuous location accessible to all employees. The attorney general will enforce the earned sick time law, which prohibits employers from retaliating against employees who take sick leave.

Employers that already have comparable paid time off policies in place need not provide additional earned sick time. Nothing in the law discourages or prohibits an employer from giving more generous leave benefits.