An Up-and-Coming Recordkeeping Requirement: Paid Sick Leave

In yesterday’s Advisor, new recordkeeping laws for 2015 were presented by Attorney Usama Kahf; today, he shares more requirements to be on the lookout for.

Kahf, who counsels employers of all sizes in all aspects of labor and employment law for the law firm of Fisher & Phillips LLP, provided these regulatory insights in a recent webinar presented by BLR® and HR Hero®.

While there is currently no federal mandate regarding paid sick leave, many states are beginning to implement laws of their own, with several taking effect in 2015. Even if your state isn’t among them yet, it’s good to be aware of the trend (and the recordkeeping requirements that go with it) in case your region follows suit.

New Laws for 2015

The most prominent paid sick leave law Kahf references, which goes into effect this July, is California’s. Under the Healthy Workplaces, Healthy Families Act of 2014, effective July 1, 2015, all California employers (both public AND private) will be required to provide paid sick leave to their employees. And not just to certain employees, says Kahf, but to everyone in the company—full-time, part-time, exempt, nonexempt, and temporary employees, as long as they’ve worked for you 30 days or more. Only very specific, very limited exemptions apply.

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How will this law affect recordkeeping? Naturally, it results in more requirements, says Kahf, including the following:

• Keeping records of accrual and usage of paid sick leave (certain record retention rules may also apply, says Kahf);
• Changing pay stubs—the employee now needs to be able to see the record of accrued and paid sick leave for each pay period; and
• Including paid sick leave information on your organization’s Wage Theft Prevention Act Notice—this will need to be reissued to all employees on or before July 1.

Other states that will see (or already have seen) changes on this front in 2015 include Massachusetts (with an Earned Sick Leave Law taking effect July 1) and Connecticut (which requires paid sick leave for service employees as of January 1). Municipal laws may also become a factor for your company—Kahf advises businesses to always seek counsel to verify they are in recordkeeping compliance.

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