City Of Milwaukee Employers Must Comply with Sick Leave Ordinance

By Sally Piefer

On November 4, 2008, voters in the City of Milwaukee voted to approve the mandatory paid sick leave Referendum. The Metropolitan Milwaukee Association of Commerce (MMAC) has filed a Notice of Claim with the City of Milwaukee challenging the Ordinance. However, at the present time employers located within the City of Milwaukee have 90 days, or until February 1, 2009, to comply.

The Ordinance requires the following sick leave provisions:

• All employers must provide at least 1 hour of paid sick leave for every 30 hours worked by any employee, to a maximum of 72 hours of sick leave in a calendar year. The leave must accrue in 1-hour increments.

• Paid sick leave must carry over from year to year. The only exception is that employees of “small businesses” will not accrue more than 40 hours of sick leave in a calendar year, unless the employer sets a higher limit. A “small business” is defined as a business with less than 10 employees during a given week.

• Sick leave begins to accrue when employment begins, and employees can use the leave beginning on the 90th calendar day following commencement of employment.

• Employers who have a paid leave policy (such as PTO) who make available paid leave time sufficient to meet the accrual requirements of the proposed Ordinance are not required to provide additional paid sick leave.

• Employees will be permitted to use the paid sick leave for a variety of reasons, including, but not limited to the following:

--The employee’s mental or physical illness, injury or health condition or need for diagnosis or preventative care;

--Care for a family member with a mental or physical illness, injury or health condition who needs medical diagnosis, care or treatment of such conditions or who needs preventative medical care;

--Absences due to domestic abuse, sexual assault or stalking, provided the individual is seeking medical attention or obtains services from a victim services organization, is seeking psychological or other counseling, is seeking relocation due to domestic or sexual violence or stalking, or is taking legal action (including preparation for participation in a criminal or civil legal proceeding).

• Employers may not discriminate or retaliate against employees for using the leave provided. This would also prohibit an employer from treating the use of sick leave as a negative factor in hiring, evaluation or promotion.

• Employers must post a notice of the amount of paid leave available to employees.

• Employers must retain records documenting the hours worked by employees and documenting the paid sick leave taken by employees for 5 years.

• Employers may not require disclosure of information relating to domestic abuse, sexual assault or stalking or the details of an employee’s medical condition as a condition of providing paid sick leave. If the employer possesses such information, it must be maintained as confidential.

Published: 11/2008