We’ve all seen it — an employee has a bad cold, maybe even the flu, but they come to work anyway. In some cases, the employee has the option of taking time off, and their employer would prefer they do so, but still they show up, putting everyone in the workplace at risk. The reasons vary. Sometimes the employee can’t afford the reduced hours. Sometimes they can take the financial hit, but they’re worried about falling behind on their projects, missing an important meeting, or looking bad next to their co-workers who never seem to take a day off.
Some employers encourage sick employees to stay home and rest. To that end, they offer paid sick or personal time so that employees who already feel lousy don’t have to suffer the stress of a smaller paycheck. While paid leave doesn’t work 100% to keep sick employees home, it helps. In fact, more and more states have passed laws requiring employers to offer paid sick leave.
@RealThinkHR has the steps to take when state-specific #PaidSickLeave laws are passed in an employer’s state: Click To Tweet
The paid sick leave laws passed so far share some common elements. Employers are typically required to offer an hour of paid sick leave for a certain number of hours worked per week (usually 30 or 40). They allow employees to use paid sick leave to care for a family member, and most allow the time to be used in case of domestic or sexual violence. The laws vary most — though still not dramatically — with respect to which employees are eligible and when, and what kind of documentation can be required to prove that employees used the leave for a permissible purpose.
We all know HR changes — and that includes laws that will directly affect your clients. That’s why a living handbook is an essential artifact to an effective people risk management strategy as state and federal policies evolve. Request a consultation with ThinkHR to add a living handbook to your offering.