Mandatory Paid Sick Leave for Montgomery County, MD

Effective 1 October 2016 a new bill (Bill 60-14) signed into law will require businesses in montgomery county, MD to provide their employees with earned sick and safe leave. 

The law require employers to provide each employee earned sick and safe leave for work performed in the County paid at the same rate and with the same benefits as the employee normally earns.

This law applies to employers who employ one(1) or more employees in addition to the owners, in the Montgomery County, MD.  An employer with fewer than five(5) employees must provide each employee with both paid and unpaid sick and safe leave for work performed in the county. 

An employee must accrue paid leave before accruing unpaid leave in a calendar year.

For employers with five(5) or more employees the earned sick and safe leave must not accrue at a rate of at least one(1) hour for every 30 hours .  The employer also cannot allow an employee to earn more than 56 hours of earned sick and safe leave in a calendar year, or use more than 80 hours of earned sick aned safe leave in a calendar year.

The earned sick and safe leave only apply to employees that meet these condidtions:

- Employees must have a regular work schedule

- the employee cannot be employed by a temporary placement agency

- must work more than 8 hours each week

- cannot be an independent contractor.

If the business is located in Montgomery county, MD with employees that work outside the county the employer is still required to provide sick and safe leave.

An employer may award earned sick and safe leave as the leave accrues during the calendar year or may award the fully amont that an employee would earn over the entire calendar year at the beginning of a calendar year.

The law also require employers to permit the blance of any unused earned sick and safe leave (up to 56 hours) over to the next calendar year.

If an employer rehires an employee with nine(9) months the employer must reinstate any unused earned sick and safe leave that the employee had, except for when the employee leaves voluntarily.

Employees must be permitted to earn sick and safe leave during an initial 90-day probationary period, but may not use it during the 90-day probationary period.

The employer may require an employee who uses more than three(3) consecutive days of earned sick and safe leave to provide reasonable documentation to verify that the leave was used appropriately.

Sources:
Bill 60-14

By Wendy Stewart