Austin Adopts Paid Sick And Safe Leave

Austin, Texas recently became the first municipality in the South to enact a paid sick and safe leave law for private sector employees.  The sick and safe leave ordinance will take effect on October 1, 2018 for employers with five or more employees.  Employers with fewer than 5 employees will have an additional two years – until October 1, 2020 – to begin complying.

While there seems to be growing support in the Texas Legislature for a bill that would reverse this ordinance, we understand that it would not take up any such legislation until early 2019 at the earliest.  Consequently, employers should not delay planning to comply, and should be ready to implement the ordinance for their Austin based employees by October 1 of this year.