By Susan Schoenfeld, JD
In February 2016, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) published its notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) to implement Executive Order (EO) 13706, Establishing Paid Sick Leave for Federal Contractors. EO 13706 requires parties that enter into covered contracts with the federal government to provide covered employees with up to 7 days of paid sick leave annually, including paid leave allowing for family care.
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The NPRM was published on February 25, 2016, in the Federal Register with a short comment to end on April 12, 2016. Publication of a final rule is expected by September 30, 2016.
According to the DOL, the rule will allow an estimated 828,200 employees to receive additional paid sick leave within 5 years of implementation. This estimate is split about evenly between employees who currently receive no paid sick leave and employees who receive some paid sick leave but would be entitled to receive additional paid sick leave as a result of the new rule.
The DOL estimates that when the new rule takes effect, a total of 681,700 additional days of paid sick leave would be available to workers in 2017.