1) Which Employers Must Provide Paid Sick Leave?
Under the new law, most employers in the U.S. must provide employees with sick leave. Employers subject to the law include the following:
- Public agencies (state, local and federal) and entities with one or more employees.
- Private companies that have 500 employees or less.
The law also allows the Secretary of Labor can consider these specific employers exempt from giving sick leave to a portion of employees or all:
- Emergency personnel as well as health care providers, such as EMTs and other medical professionals
- Small companies that have less than 50 workers (under certain conditions).
2) Which Workers Can Take Paid Sick Leave?
Every eligible employee in the U.S. is entitled to the full amount of paid sick leave. As opposed to prior laws, such as the Paid Sick Leave Law in California, the Emergency Paid Sick Leave Act immediately provides employees with paid sick time.
These employees include:
- Civilians working in the military
- Full-time employees
- Undocumented immigrants
- Part-time employees
- Recent hires
- Military staff and personnel
There are exemptions from the Emergency Paid Sick Leave Act. These include:
- Unpaid interns
- Volunteers
- Independent Contractors
- Church staffers
3) Can Employees Use Sick Leave for Personal Reasons?
When an employee has a qualifying reason, the law dictates that their employer must provide the chance to take paid sick leave. Here are six authorized reasons that employees can use:
- The employee is experiencing any of the conditions specified by the Secretary of Health and Human Services.
- The worker must care for their child whose school has closed or whose childcare provider is absent.
- The employee cares for a person who is self-quarantining or sheltering in place, based on public order or advice from a doctor.
- The worker has Covid19 symptoms.
- Due to the Coronavirus, the employee has been advised to self-quarantine by a health care provider or worker.
- The local, federal, or state government asks the worker to isolate or self-quarantine because of Coronavirus.
Importantly, the Emergency Paid Sick Leave Act allows one exception to these authorized reasons. If the employee can still work or work remotely, they may only be entitled to partial sick leave.
An Example
Barbara has not been told to shelter in place due to Covid-19, but her three children’s school has shut down. However, Barbara’s children are 15 years old and can look after themselves and drive, so Barbara might not be able to leave work under the law.
If Barbara’s children were age 8, her employer might have allowed Barbara to work remotely. But, again, this is because the young children would be home alone without transportation.
4) What Reasons Do Not Qualify for Federal Paid Sick Leave?
Some reasons for authorizing sick leave are not justified and are therefore not covered under the Emergency Paid Sick Leave Act. These reasons include:
- Individuals experiencing an illness or sickness not related to the Coronavirus
- Individuals who need medical attention for an infection or illness unrelated to the Coronavirus
- Individuals caring for a family member who is sick or ill with a condition unrelated to the Coronavirus
5) How Do Employees Ask for Sick Leave?
No strict requirements exist regarding exercising paid sick leave rights with employers. Instead, employers usually create procedures about employees giving notice and expect workers to follow them.
Requesting Sick Leave
Nothing in the Emergency Paid Sick Leave Act dictates what kind of procedures employers should enforce. However, we can make some reasonable judgments based on similar “leave laws.” Therefore the requirements include:
- That the request for leave is provided as soon as possible
- That the request includes the amount of expected sick time, to the best of the employee’s knowledge
- That the request includes the main reason why the employee requested sick leave
Most “leave laws,” ask employees to only provide minimal medical details to the employer for privacy. However, if a worker requests leave under the Emergency Paid Sick Leave Act, the employer may ask the employee to disclose if they have experienced symptoms of the Coronavirus or have been diagnosed as positive.
Unreasonable Behavior by Employers
Employers use this information to calculate the payment amount for sick leave. Other than this information, employees should not ask workers to disclose any more information than the law requires concerning a request for sick leave. Numerous federal and state laws work to protect workers if they feel they are subject to discrimination, prejudice, or retaliation after asking for sick leave and sharing private medical information.
At times, employers make unreasonable requests. These mandates include:
- Requesting notice through inconvenient or unmanageable channels (for example, through U.S. mail as opposed to a simpler alternative).
- Asking for medical documentation to support the claim for sick leave.
- Ask the worker to find a replacement to cover their position.
6) Can Employers Require Workers to Use Paid Time Off or Other Sick Leave Before Using Federal Paid Sick Leave?
Methods of paid leave such as paid time off (PTO), vacation time, or California paid sick leave are not interchangeable with Federal paid sick leave. Therefore, if an employee is allowed sick leave under the Federal Emergency Paid Sick Leave Act, the employer is not permitted to instruct the worker to use other forms of leave first.
Most businesses provide their employees with leave policies that provide PTO and vacation time. However, some of these policies are more lenient than the Federal Emergency Paid Sick Leave Act.
Reviewing Companies’ Leave Policies
Before requesting sick leave, workers should review their companies’ leave policies. For example, some employers require employees to use their paid time off, sick leave, or vacation pay by a certain time each year. Why? In California and many other states, employers must carry over unused paid time off to the following year.
In California, the “use-it-lose-it” policies for paid time off and vacation enforced by other states are illegal. Employers who do not limit the amount of paid time off, sick leave, or vacation hours must allow them to carry over from year to year.
However, paid time off, sick leave, and vacation hours can be “capped” by a certain amount of hours as dictated by the business. This is called an accrual cap.
When employers provide workers with sick leave hours under the Federal Emergency Paid Sick Leave Act, these hours add to California paid sick leave and any vacation or paid time from the employer. Federal paid sick leave does not accumulate yearly, so the smart choice for workers is to utilize the federal sick leave first. Next, employees can use sick leave from the state—in this case, California—and finally, their vacation or PTO.
7) Can Employers Require Workers to Find A Replacement?
Employers cannot require employees to find replacement workers to cover missed hours. Therefore, this cannot be a condition of sick leave.
8) What is Intermittent Sick Leave?
Many employees who cannot work remotely use their paid sick leave immediately. However, it is lawful for employees to wait for a later date to use their sick time.
Additionally, when employees elect to take sick leave, they do not have to use up all the hours at once. The hours can be used in blocks, for example, three hours per day. The hours can also be used intermittently. This intermittent use is called intermittent sick leave.
9) Can Multiple Parents Be Granted Sick Leave?
Both parents are entitled to paid sick leave when they take care of their children. This holds even if both parents work for the same employer.
If one parent is on sick leave to watch the children, however, it is unlikely that the other parent will get leave simultaneously. Therefore, one parent is considered sufficient to watch over the children.
10) Self-Quarantine or Shelter in Place Order
Caring for an individual forced to shelter in place of self-quarantine order or who is told by a doctor to self-quarantine does not ask the person for whom a family member provides care. This aspect of the Federal Emergency Paid Sick Leave Act also does not describe the level or type of care provided to the sick individual.
Since many shelter-in-place orders include children, some parents create child care pools, during which they take turns watching each other’s children. This method helps parents struggling to find proper child care during these unpredictable times.
11) How Much Paid Sick Leave Are Workers Entitled to?
Under the law, eligible employees can immediately use the full portion of paid sick leave. Also, there should be no waiting period or required service hours before the employee can exercise this sick time.
Notably, the amount of sick time awarded relies on whether workers are considered full-time or part-time.
- Full-Time Employees. Full-time workers receive up to 80 hours of paid sick time.
- Part-Time Employees.Part-time workers get sick leave based on the average number of hours they work over two weeks. However, the law does not stipulate how far back employers should search to find the part-time worker’s average number.
An Example:
Bryan works part-time as a content writer on a set schedule. Usually, he works 5 hours per day for five hours a week, averaging 25 hours per week. However, over two weeks, Bryan worked an average of 50 hours. Therefore, Bryan’s company provides him with 50 hours of paid sick leave.
12) Do Part-Time Employees Get Paid Sick Leave?
Many part-time workers have schedules that fluctuate from week to week. This policy makes it difficult for employers to figure out how much they work over two weeks.
For part-time employees who work on a varying schedules, businesses should use this figure:
- On average, the number of hours the employee worked per day over six months before sick leave.
- If the worker did not work for six months before the sick leave began, this number could estimate the number of hours they agreed to work when first hired.
No Carry-Over and No Changes in Leave Policy
Employees cannot accumulate sick leave hours annually. Instead, unused sick time expires each year, according to Congress.
Employers also cannot change their leave policies to avoid providing workers with extra leave. However, the business may be able to change its sick leave policies on behalf of legitimate business reasons.
13) What is the Amount of Sick Leave Payment for Federal Employees?
Businesses are required to pay their workers their standard hourly rate for sick leave. The company will pay the minimum wage if the minimum wage is higher.
This idea is easy for hourly employees: the standard payment rate is what they receive hourly from their company.
However, the Federal Paid Sick Leave Act limits the amount the employer must pay for sick leave. This limit or cap corresponds to the worker’s specific reason for taking sick leave.
14) What is the Paid Sick Leave Amount for Pandemic-Related Medical Issues?
Employers only must pay the maximum amount of sick leave if the employee:
- Needs to self-quarantine or must shelter in place based on a local, federal, or state order stemming from Covid-19
- Has been told by a health care provider to self-quarantine
- Is dealing with symptoms of Covid-19 and is being diagnosed
15) How Much is Paid Sick Leave for School Closures and Child Care Problems?
If workers take leave for reasons unrelated to Covid-19, employers only must pay:
- $200 daily, maximum, or
- $2,000
These reasons may be:
- Taking care of someone who is self-quarantining or sheltering in place
- Taking care of a child whose school closes down or whose normal childcare provider is not available due to the Pandemic
- Dealing with health problems akin to Covid-19
In these cases, the employer only needs to pay 2/3 of the worker’s hourly pay rate. After that, this payment goes up to a limit of $200 per day.
16) Are There Unique Pay Rates for Specific Employees?
There are specific groups of employees for whom the standard sick pay rate is not calculated under California law but by federal law. These workers are:
- Employees in sales who work on commission
- Employees who receive a salary and are considered non-exempt
- Employees who get bonuses
Since it can be difficult for employers to figure out the exact pay rates for these workers, we recommend contacting a skilled employment lawyer.
17) Are There Penalties for Violating Employee Sick Leave Rights?
There are ramifications when an employee does not allow an employee paid sick leave.
By law, an employer won’t pay sick leave; the worker receives the monetary value of the sick leave plus penalties. Penalties can be the same as the minimum wage amount owed to the employee.
The employer also pays attorney fees and may face additional fines and jail time. In addition, employers who have violated their workers’ sick time rights face repeated fines that increase quickly.
18) Are There Protections for Employees Who Use Their Sick Leave Rights?
Federal law protects sick leave rights. Employers are forbidden from retaliating or discriminating against workers when they take lawful actions. Workers’ protected actions include:
- Asking to use sick leave
- Reporting unlawful sick leave rules
- Protecting worker rights by talking about the employer’s behavior and methods
- Complaining about the business’s policies when it comes to sick leave
- Requesting to use sick leave rights
Why Employers Retaliate
Employers sometimes retaliate when employees commit an act that harms a manager, peer, or business entity.
An Example
Sari works at Berk’s Shoe Store. Sari exercises her right to paid sick leave the night before an essential project report is due. Sari’s manager Blossom has to make the presentation, and Blossom now has more work to do and becomes resentful.
To make matters worse, more employees—Lee and Max—decide to use their sick leave at a busy time for the office. The once-prosperous company begins to struggle, and the employer considers taking retaliatory action.
19) What Are the Typical Expressions of Discrimination and Retaliation?
Of course, retaliation comes in different forms, and so does discrimination. So what motivates employers to act this way?
- Punishing employees
- Forcing employees to leave the job by making the environment hostile
Common forms of retaliation include:
- Discipline
- Firing
- Demotion
- Being assigned to a lower / worse position
- Suspension
- Reduced responsibility
- Pay reduction
- Hour reduction
- Plans for performance improvement that are uncalled for
Coronavirus: Specific Retaliatory Action
- Some employers fire workers due to the Pandemic but then hire someone else when business resumes
- Some employers discriminate based on Covid-19 infections
An Example
Rob works at a sandwich shop in San Diego but misses work when he becomes ill with Covid-19. When he tests negative and his doctor advises that he can return to work, Rob finds that his boss reduced his hours and workload. His boss blames this on the economic slowdown.
Six months later, the economy has recovered, but Rob’s hours have declined even more. Although Rob is 100% healthy, his boss has decided that he should not make sandwiches at peak times anymore based on Rob’s prior affliction. Rob’s boss also makes comments suggesting that Rob should start “looking for a new career.”
Rob’s boss engages in discriminatory and retaliatory actions, and Rob should seek legal counsel.
20) Proving That Discrimination or Retaliation Has Occurred
Here are some ways employers engage in discriminatory or retaliatory behavior. When workers are subject to the behavior of this nature, they should also contact an experienced attorney.
- Action such as suspension or other negative acts when workers were protected
- Illogical criticism
- Exclusion from events and meetings
- Refusal to provide assignments and work or assigning abnormal assignments
- Suggestion to find a new position at the business or a position at a different business
- Raising concerns about employee behavior that is protected and considered normal
There are many additional ways employers choose to behave negatively, but these are some of the major ways to frame these problems.
21) How Can Employees Recover Their Sick Leave Pay?
There are steps workers can take to force their employer to behave under the law:
- Call the Labor Department
- Contact a qualified attorney
Employees may be able to obtain back wages, punitive damages, and compensation for emotional issues caused by the actions of their employers. But what can employees expect to gain from these actions?
- The Labor Department can conduct an investigation. They may issue a citation
- A lawyer can file a lawsuit against the company
22) Does the Federal Government Pay Out Sick Leave?
Thanks to the Emergency Paid Sick Leave Act, the answer to this question is yes. However, sick leave can be a complex issue for employees, so we suggest contacting an experienced, skilled attorney to help weigh your options.
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Amit2025-03-28 04:24:272025-03-28 04:24:29What Is a Pay Stub and Why It Matters for Employees and Employers
