Example requirements

This section describes each requirement of a paid sick law that is relevant to the Workforce Management application.

Note: This document does not address how implementations can group employees who qualify for sick leave or how qualifying employees can be differentiated from those who do not qualify. These decisions must be made for each implementation depending on the particular requirements of the client.

This document describes how the core application can be configured to satisfy the requirements of a paid sick law. Implementation specifics can vary depending on client-specific requirements such as balances that are used, accrual frequencies, and so on.

These are the requirements:

  • Rate of accrual

    Depending on the state or municipality, eligible employees accrue paid sick leave at different rates. The rate within the state or municipality can also vary depending on the number of employees.

    In this example, eligible employees accrue paid sick leave at the rate of one hour for every 40 hours worked. These are referred to as eligible work hours. This is 0.025 hours of sick leave for every hour worked or 60 minutes for every 2400 minutes worked.

    Other examples of accrual rates:

    • 1 hour per every 30 hours worked (0.0334 hours of sick time for every hour worked)
    • 1 hour per every 37 hours worked (0.027 hours of sick time for every hour worked)
    • 1 hour per every 43 hours worked (0.0233 hours of sick time for every hour worked)
    • 1 hour per every 87 hours worked (0.0115 hours of sick time for every hour worked)
  • Maximum accrual

    The maximum sick balance also varies by state or municipality. In this example, an employee can carry a maximum sick balance of 40 hours or 2400 minutes. Employees who have a balance of 40 hours will not accrue any additional sick leave.

    Other examples of maximum accruals:

    • 72 hours (4320 minutes)
    • 56 hours (3360 minutes)
    • 24 hours (1440 minutes)
  • Accrual commencement date

    In this example, employees become eligible to accrue sick leave under the law on the later of January 1, 2012 or their hire date. Any time that is recorded before these dates will not be considered.

  • Using accrued sick leave

    The specific conditions for using accrued paid sick time varies by state or municipality. In this example, an employee who has accrued paid sick time can only take that time if all of these conditions are met:

    • The employee must have sufficient hours accrued to cover the time they intend to take off.
    • The employee must have taken less than 40 hours or 2400 minutes of sick leave in the current calendar year.
    • The employee must have worked at least 680 eligible work hours from their eligibility date, as defined by their accrual commencement date. This is 17 weeks for a 40-hr/wk employee. The number of hours may be greater for part-time employees or less for employees who work overtime.
    • The employee must have worked an average of 10 eligible work hours or 600 minutes per week in the previous calendar quarter. This is 130 hours or 7800 minutes, calculated as 52/4*10.
  • Rate of pay

    The employee’s paid sick time is paid at either the employee’s normal hourly wage or at the minimum fair wage.