Montgomery County Maryland
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Have you Updated Your Employee Handbook to Comply with the New Ordinance on Sick and Safe Leave?

Posted December 22, 2016 at 7:50 PM

Business & Tax, News & Events

A new Montgomery County ordinance took effect on October 1, 2016, which now requires Employers in Montgomery County to provide certain paid sick and safe leave, to expand the permitted uses of this sick and safe leave, and to permit certain carryovers of unused leave into the next year.  Do the provisions of your current employee Handbook comply with these new requirements?  Are your policies consistent with the law?  If not, an experienced business law attorney can assist you in these areas.

A summary of the principal provisions of the new requirements are as follows:

  1. Employers must allow employees who regularly work more than eight (8) hours each week to accrue paid time off in order to provide care for themselves or family members in cases of illness, preventative care, or in response to sexual violence or stalking.
  2. Employers in Montgomery County are required to provide each employee earned sick and safe leave for work performed in the County paid at the same rate and with the same benefits that the employee normally earns.  
  3. An employer with less than 5 employees is only required to provide up to 32 hours of paid sick and safe leave and 24 hours of unpaid sick and safe leave in a calendar year.
  4. An employer with 5 or more employees is required to provide up to 56 hours of paid sick and safe leave in a calendar year.  
  5. An employee can carryover up to 56 hours of unused sick and safe leave into the next calendar year.
  6. The definition of activities qualifying for sick and safe leave has been expanded.
  7. Employers must keep records for at least 3 years of: (i) earned sick and safe leave by each employee and (ii) earned sick and safe leave used by each employee.

The business law attorneys at Miller, Miller, and Canby can assist employers with setting up or updating their employee handbook, so that it complies with the County’s ordinance on sick and safe leave. To learn more about MM&C’s business law practice and to contact one of the firm’s business law attorneys click here.

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