Massachusetts Paid Sick Time

Rhode Island recently has followed Connecticut in mandating paid sick time, and now bills pending in Massachusetts and Vermont may spread the requirement through New England. New York and the District of Columbia also recently adopted similar requirements, and paid sick leave bills are pending, or campaigns to require them are under way, in 18 other states.

The Massachusetts bill, "An Act Establishing Earned Paid Sick Time" (S. 900/H. 1739), would mandate three tiers of mandatory sick leave, which in all cases would accrue at the rate of one hour for every 30 hours worked. Employers with fewer than six employees would be required to permit accrual of up to 40 hours of unpaid sick time per year. Employers with six to ten employees would be required to permit accrual of up to 40 hours of paid sick time per year, and employees at businesses with eleven or more employees would accrue 56 paid sick time hours per year. Accrued time rolls over from year to year, but an