Leave is when an employee is allowed to take time off
from work without loosing their employee status. Leave can
be paid or unpaid.
Paid Leaves are Earned Vacation Time (leave), Holidays,
Sick Leave and Leave of Absence with Pay.
Unpaid Leaves are Leave of Absence without Pay, Sick
leave taken under the Family and Medical Leave Act. |
Sick Leave is time
given to an employee by the employer to be away from work
without loosing their employee status to take care of
personal or family illnesses'. Sick Leave can be paid
or unpaid. An employee earns "paid sick leave" in much
the same way that they earn "paid vacation time".
However, the amount of Sick Leave earned is normally less
than the regular vacation time. Sick leave earned is
usually one hour for ever 30-40 hours worked.
For employees who
need to take time away from work but don't have enough paid
sick leave time that they can use can be covered by the
Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA).
The Act allows them to take unpaid sick leave for up to 12
weeks for certain medical situations. This could be
used for illness of either the employee or a member of the
employee's immediate family.
Employees are eligible to take FMLA leave
if they have worked for their employer for at least 12
months, and have worked for at least 1,250 hours over the
previous 12 months, and work at a location where at least 50
employees are employed by the employer within 75 miles. |
Leave of Absence
(LOA): This when an employee is allowed to take time away
from the job without loosing their status as an employee.
Leave of Absence can be with or without pay.
- LOA with Pay: An
employee can take a leave of absence with pay when the
employer request it. For example, an employer may
choose to continue to pay an employee who is called away for
Jury Duty.
- LOA without Pay:
An employee may request a Leave of Absence without pay.
For example, if an employee has exhausted their authorized
vacation time and still needs time away from their jobs to
take care of personal issues they may request Leave without
Pay. Leave without Pay may also be taken if an
employee is called up for active duty in the military.
An employer may also grant Leave without Pay in lieu of
laying off an employee in order to reduce expenses and keep
the business afloat. |
Leave is not mandated by
federal or state law. Leave is granted by an employer
as a benefit to their employees. Most companies offer
leave as part of a total benefits package in order to remain
competitive. However, most do not offer more than a
few days of sick leave to their employees. If an
employer grants leave to one employee they must grant it to
all employees.
The
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) does not require
payment for time not worked, such as vacations, sick leave
or federal or other holidays. These benefits are matters of
agreement between an employer and an employee (or the
employee's representative).
However, if you have a
contract with the government valued above $2,500 you must
comply with the guidelines outlined in the following acts:
- McNamara O'Hara Service Contract Act (SCA)
- Davis-Bacon and Related Acts (DBRA)
Most state do not mandate
by law that employers give their employees sick leave.
Only a handful of states and cities have such mandate.
They Include:
2006
San Francisco, CA
2008
Washington D.C.
Milwaukee, WI
2011
Connecticut
Seattle, WA
2013
Portland, OR
Jersey City, NJ
SETAC, Washington
2014
Newark, NJ
New York City,
NY
California
Passaic, NJ
East Orange, NJ
Paterson, NJ
Trenton, NJ
Montclair, NJ
Oakland, CA
Massachusetts
2015
Tacoma, WA
Philadelphia, PA
Bloomfield, NJ
Oregon
Montgomery County, MD
Pittsburgh, PA
Elizabeth, NJ
Brunswick, NJ
2016
Spokane, WA
Vermont
Plainfield, NJ
Santa Monica, CA
Minneapolis, MN
Los Angeles, CA
San Diego, CA
Chicago, IL
Berkeley, CA
St. Paul, MN
Cook County, IL
Arizona
Washington
The National Partnership for Women and Families is a
non-profit organization that advocates for state laws
mandating paid sick leave.
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