Shortly after passage of the Paid Sick Leave law a few years ago, it became apparent that there were several quirks in the law that would make enforcement and compliance challenging in some places. I highlighted a few issues in a post back then.

Well, the General Assembly has been working on a bill to “fix” these issues.  Senate Bill 1007 passed the chamber last week and focuses on several issues that needed clarification or revision.

Both the CBIA and the Office of Legislative Research have neatly summarized the bill here and here, but there are a few points worth highlighting because passage is expected before the end of the session.

• The biggest change is that employers would be allowed the administer PSL using the same calendar method as they use for other benefits (like FMLA) instead of a using a January-December model.
• The current PSL law uses a quarterly model to determine if an employer has reached the 50 or more employee threshold.  The bill would change that.   Under the bill, employers would annually determine if they meet the threshold based on their payroll for the week of October 1, which is consistent with other existing laws.
• The bill also modifies the law to make it clear that, as the CBIA says, “employees cannot use ‘intermittent’ periods of paid sick leave that would result in disrupting work shifts. (For example, preventing an ambulance driver from taking paid sick leave midway through a shift when her or she may be needed at an emergency.)”  Again, this change isn’t controversial and gives employers a bit of flexibility in dealing with PSL issues.

If you’ve been having trouble with PSL or even if you haven’t, these are notable changes to the law that will impact all eligible employers. Take a look at the complete list of revisions and contact your local counsel with any questions you have about the bill.

If passed, the changes would become effective January 1, 2014.