SHORT TITLE

This Act may be cited as the “Paid Sick Days Act”.

SECTION 2:    PREAMBLE

The legislature, in order to advance healthier, more productive and more equitable workplaces throughout the Commonwealth, and to promote the health and welfare of families within the Commonwealth, hereby direct all employers to provide a minimum of  7 paid sick days per year, or the appropriate percentage thereof as determined by this Act, for all of their employees.

SECTION 3:    FINDINGS

The Legislature of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts makes the following findings:

1)       Nearly every worker in the Commonwealth is likely to need, during any given year, time-off to attend to their own illness or that of an immediate family member, either for routine medial care, or to attend to an illness. 

2)       Almost half of all private sector workers do not earn a single paid sick day per year.   

3)       Low-income workers are significantly worse off.  Over three quarters of the poorest families 76 percent lack any regular paid sick leave. 

4)       Less than half of workers who earn paid sick days can use it to care for children or elder adult family members who may be ill.

5)       Preventive and routine medical care helps avoid illness and injury by detecting illnesses early and shortening the duration of illnesses. 

6)       Routine medical care results in savings by detecting and treating illness and injury early and decreasing the need for emergency care.  These savings benefit public and private payers of health insurance, including private businesses. 

7)       When parents are available to care for their children who become sick, the children’s recovery is faster, more serious illnesses are prevented, and the children’s overall mental and physical health is improved. 

8)       Parents who cannot afford to miss work must send children with a contagious illness to childcare or school, contributing to the high rate of infections in child care centers and schools.

9)       The majority of elder-care is performed by working family members. 

10)    About one in every four employees has provided informal care to an elderly family member or friend in the past year. 

11)    Providing employees time-off to attend to their own health care needs ensures that they will be healthier and more efficient employees in the long run. 

12)    Providing 7 paid sick days per year to employees is affordable for employers and good for business.

13)    Employers who provide paid sick days see greater retention and avoid the problems of “presenteeism” or employees coming to work sick.  Studies have shown that costs from on-the-job productivity losses as a result of presenteeism exceed the costs of absenteeism, medical and disability benefits.

SECTION 4:    PURPOSE

1)       The purpose of this Act is to ensure that all workers in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts can address their own health needs and the health needs of their families by requiring employers to provide a minimum of 7 paid sick days per year; and

2)       To alleviate undue burden on public and private health care systems by enabling workers to seek early and routine medical care for themselves and their families.

3)       This Act is a remedial act which shall be liberally construed in aid of its purpose. 

SECTION 5:  Section 148 of chapter 149, of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2002 Official Edition, is hereby amended by inserting after the word “include,” in line 53, the following words:-

any paid sick days owed and due under section 148C.  

SECTION 6:  Said chapter 149 is hereby amended by inserting after section 148B the following section:-

Section 148C

(a) Definitions:  As used in this section, the following terms shall have the following meanings:

             “Employee”, any person who performs services for an employer for wage, remuneration, or other compensation.

             “Employer”, any individual, corporation, partnership or other entity, including any agent thereof, who engages the services of an employee or employees for wages, remuneration or other compensation. 

             “Child”, a biological, adopted, or foster child, stepchild, legal ward, or child of a parent standing in loco parentis who is under 18 years of age, or 18 years of age or older but incapable of earning wages because of a mental or physical incapacity.  

             “Parent”, a biological, foster, stepparent or adoptive parent of an employee or an employee’s spouse, or other person who stood in loco parentis during the childhood of an employee or employee’s spouse. 

             “Spouse”, the meaning given such term by the marriage laws of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

             “Federal act”, the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993, 29 U.S.C. sections 2601 to 2654 inclusive, as it may be amended. 

             “Health care professional”, the same meaning given the term “health care provider” in section 1 of the federal act, 29 U.S.C. section 2611 and 29 C.F.R. §825.800.

             “Pro rata”, the proportion of wages paid to part-time employees that is equal to the ratio of part-time hours worked to full-time hours worked.

             “Sick day”, a day when an employee is unable to report to work because of medical  or health reasons due to  illness, injury, health condition, or preventative routine care, for himself or herself, or for a child, spouse, parent or parent of a spouse.

(b) All employees who work in the Commonwealth shall be entitled to not less than 7 sick days with pay during a 12-month period, or to a pro rata number of days of paid leave for employees working less than 30 hours per week on a year-round basis; or less than 1500 hours throughout the 12-month period involved.  The 12-month period for each employee shall be calculated from the date-of-hire or subsequent anniversary date.  Paid sick days shall be provided to an employee by an employer for:

             (1) care for the employee’s child, spouse, parent, or parent of spouse who is suffering from an illness, injury, or health condition that requires home care, the attention of a health care provider, or that is covered under the federal act;

             (2) care for the employee’s own illness, injury, or health condition that requires home care, the attention of a health care provider, or that is covered under the federal act.

             (3) an employee to attend a routine medical appointment for employee’s self, child, spouse, parent or parent of spouse. 

(c)  Leave under this section shall be made available for use intermittently and on a reduced work schedule basis.

(d)  Paid sick days provided for under this section shall accrue as determined appropriate by the employer, but not less than on a quarterly basis. 

             (1)  Leave may be used as accrued, or be loaned by the employer to the employee in advance of accrual by such employee.

             (2)  If the schedule of an employee varies from week to week, a weekly average of the hours worked over the 12-week period prior to the beginning of a sick day payout shall be used to calculate the employee’s normal workweek for the purposes of determining the amount of paid sick days to which the employee is entitled.

(e)  An employer may require certification of the qualifying illness, injury or health condition when 3 paid sick days or more are taken consecutively.    Any reasonable documentation signed by a health care professional involved in following or treating the illness, injury or health condition, and indicating the need for the amount of sick days taken, shall be deemed acceptable certification.  Nothing in this act shall be construed to require an employee to provide as certification any information from a health care professional that would be in violation of section 1177 of the Social Security Act or the regulations promulgated pursuant to section 264(c) of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, 42 U.S.C. 1320d-2 note. 

(f) Paid sick days shall carry over annually to the extent not used by the employee, but unless the employer chooses otherwise, unused accrued paid sick days shall not accumulate to more than 7 days, nor be reimbursed upon the termination or resignation of any employee. 

(g) It shall be unlawful for any employer to interfere with, restrain, or deny the exercise of, or the attempt to exercise, any right provided under, or in connection with this section. 

(h) It shall be unlawful for any employer to take any adverse action against an employee because the employee 1) exercises rights under this section, 2) opposes practices which such employee believes to be in violation of this section, or 3) supports the exercise of rights of another under this section.

(i) The attorney general shall enforce this section, and may obtain injunctive or declaratory relief for this purpose.  Violation of this section shall be subject to section 27C(b)(1),(2),(4),(6),(7) and to section 150.

(j) Nothing in this section shall be construed to discourage employers from adopting or retaining leave policies more generous than policies that comply with the requirements of this section.

(k) Employers who are already providing paid sick days in accordance with this section shall be deemed in compliance with this section. 

(l) A notice of the provisions of this section shall be prepared by the attorney general, in English and other languages as required under section 62A(a)(iii) of chapter 151A, and posted in every establishment where employees having rights under this section work.  Such notice shall be posted in a conspicuous location accessible to employees.