Allowable Substitution of Employers' Paid Leave Policies

(1) Employers may have their own sick leave or paid time off policies, so long as all employees can use at least the same amount of time, for the same purposes, under the same conditions, and with the same job protections provided in M.G.L. c. 149, § 148C. (2) Employers may have different paid leave policies for different groups of employees, so long as all employees can use at least the same amount of time, for the same purposes, under the same conditions, and with the same job protections provided in M.G.L. c. 149, § 148C. Example: An employer may provide all employees working more than 20 hours per week with 80 hours of paid time off per benefit year while per diem workers receive earned sick time at the rate of accrual of one hour for every 30 hours worked. (3) An employer's own paid time off, vacation, sick leave, or other policy may be substituted for earned sick time so long as 40 hours of time off provided under the policy, or such lesser amount as each employee might earn if the employer were not using the substitute policy, complies with all the provisions of M.G.L. c. 149, § 148C, and 940 CMR 33.00, including: (a) accrual at the rate of no less than one hour for every 30 hours of work; (b) pay at the employee's same hourly rate; (c) access for all uses authorized under M.G.L. c. 149, § 148C; (d) availability under the same conditions of notice and documentation; and (e) extension of the same job protections. (4) Employers that provide employees with a lump sum of 40 hours or more of sick leave or paid time off at the beginning of each benefit year do not need to track accrual or allow any rollover, provided that such leave is otherwise consistent with M.G.L. c. 149, § 148C. (5) Employers that provide 40 or more hours of paid time off or vacation to employees that also may be used as earned sick time, consistent with M.G.L. c. 149, § 148C, shall not be required to provide additional sick leave to employees who use all their time for other purposes (i.e., vacation or personal time) and have need of sick leave later in the year, provided that the employers' leave policies make clear that additional time will not be provided. Example: A sporting goods store provides its employees with 40 hours of paid vacation time that can also be used as earned sick time, consistent with M.G.L. c. 149, § 148C. Does the store need to provide any separate sick leave? No. A sporting goods store does not need to provide additional sick leave, but the store must put employees on notice that if they use all of their hours for vacation, there will be no additional sick leave available. (6) Employers that have an unlimited sick leave policy shall not be required to track accrual of sick leave or allow any rollover, provided that such leave is otherwise consistent with M.G.L. c. 149, § 148C. (7) Employers that wish to maintain separate use policies for paid time off in excess of 40 hours may do so, provided that they allow employees to designate which time is taken as earned sick time. (8) Employers that prefer not to track accrual of sick time over the course of the benefit year may also use the following schedules for providing lump sums of sick leave or paid time off to their employees. Employers using these schedules will be in compliance even if an employee's hours vary from week to week. Employers may accelerate the accrual or increase hours if they choose. Employees accruing earned sick time on these schedules will have the right to rollover their sick leave up to 40 hours and accrual may be delayed while an employee maintains an unused bank of 40 hours. For employees working an average of: (a) 37.5 - 40 hours per week, provide eight hours per month for five months. (b) 30 hours per week, provide five hours per month for eight months. (c) 24 hours per week, provide four hours per month for ten months. (d) 20 hours per week, provide four hours per month for nine months. (e) 16 hours per week, provide three hour per month for ten months. (f) ten hours per week, provide two hours per month for ten months. (g) five hours per week, provide one hour per month for ten months.