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Compliance March 6, 2008
D.C. Lawmakers OK Paid Sick Leave Measure
March 6, 2008 (PLANSPONSOR.com) - The District of
Columbia City Council has put its stamp of approval on a bill
that would require employers to furnish paid sick leave to
employees.
Reported by Fred Schneyer
The Washington Post reports that under the Accrued Sick and Safe Leave Act, full-time employees at businesses with 100 or more workers will get seven days of paid leave, and employees at businesses with 24 or fewer workers will get three days.
Workers at medium-size businesses, those with 25 to 99 employees, will get five days of sick leave. Part-time workers will earn half the days that full-time workers receive.
The news report said the measure includes a 12-month service eligibility requirement before workers can take the sick leave. Advocates say the legislation could affect 200,000 workers who don’t currently have such leave.
Exemptions
D.C. lawmakers also approved amendments to the bill exempting most health-care workers and eating establishment wait staff, exempting businesses that can prove a hardship and requiring the city to do an annual assessment of the legislation’s impact on businesses.
Mayor Adrian M. Fenty must sign the bill and Congress has 90 days to review it before it takes effect.
If the D.C. bill is enacted into law, the district would become the second community in the nation to require paid sick leave (See San Francisco Voters to Ponder Sick Leave Measure ).