HR Management & Compliance

Healthy Families Act Requires Paid Leave

This content was originally published in October 2009. For the latest FMLA regulation changes, visit our FMLA article archives or try our practical FMLA compliance guide.

In May 2009, the Healthy Families Act was introduced in the both the House of Representatives (HR 2460) and the U.S. Senate (S 1152). Sponsored by Representative Rosa DeLauro (D-CT) and Senator Edward Kennedy (D-MA), the bill would require employers with 15 or more employees to provide employees with up to 56 hours (7 days) of paid sick leave each year.

The proposed legislation, which allows employees to accrue one hour of paid sick time for every 30 hours worked, up to a total accrual of 56 hours, would mean that many employers would need to change their current leave/paid time off polices in order to reflect the proposed law’s requirements. Employers with existing paid leave policies that are equivalent to, or more generous than, the proposed legislation would not have to change their policies.

Proposal for Paid Leave: The Basics

Under the proposed legislation:

  • Employees would be entitled to use paid sick time for their own physical or mental illness, injury, or medical condition; to obtain medical care, including preventive care; and to care for, or help obtain medical care for, a child, parent, spouse, or “any other individual related by blood or affinity whose close association with the employee is the equivalent of a family relationship.”
  • Employees would begin accruing hours as soon as they start working for a covered employer and could begin using the accrued time 60 days from their first day of work.
  • Paid sick time would carry over from one year to the next, but employees would not be able to accrue more than 56 hours at any time.

The proposed law would also provide paid sick time for absences related to domestic violence, sexual assault, or stalking, including time spent seeking medical attention, obtaining counseling services or relocation assistance, and pursuing legal action.

In order to request paid sick time, employees would have to make a reasonable effort to schedule leave so as to not unduly disrupt the employer’s operations. Employers would be allowed to request medical certifications for leave requests of 3 days or more.

Employers would have to post notices of new rights and responsibilities under the proposed law, and employers who willfully violate the posting requirements may be subject to a civil fine not to exceed $100 for each separate violation.

SHRM Opposes Law

The Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) has publicly opposed the Healthy Families Act, stating its belief that “a paid sick leave mandate as outlined in the Healthy Families Act would limit an employer’s flexibility in designing a benefits package that meets the needs of their unique workforce, resulting in significant costs for employers as well as a potential loss to employees who prefer other benefits rather than paid sick leave.”

SHRM advocates that “[r]ather than a one-size-fits-all government approach, where federal and state laws often conflict and compliance is determined under regulatory silos,” a program should be used to create “a comprehensive workplace flexibility policy that, for the first time, responds to the diverse needs of employees and employers and reflects different work environments, union representation, industries and organizational size.”

In this regard, SHRM has developed a comprehensive workplace flexibility policy, described in detail in the July 2009 issue of this newsletter.

What Now?

As this newsletter went to print, the Healthy Families Act was referred to the Committee on Education and Labor, and to the Committees on Oversight and Government Reform, and House Administration, for consideration. BLR will be following this bill and reporting any future developments.

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