3 Things to Know Regarding an Employee’s Sick Leave
- Is my employer required to give me sick leave?
Contrary to popular belief, there is no general legal requirement that employers give employees sick leave. While most employers do in fact give employees some paid time off each year to be used for sick leave, the law does not require employers to do so in most circumstances.
Under some circumstances, however, the law does require employers to permit employees to take unpaid time off from work for illness, without negative consequences for the employees. Leave from work may be required by the Family and Medical Leave Act or to accommodate a disability. In the case of pregnancy, an employer cannot deny leave to an employee for a pregnancy-related condition if the employer gives leave to employees for other temporary disabilities.
- Is my employer required to pay me for sick leave?
Since there is no requirement under federal law that employees be given sick leave, there also is no legal requirement that sick leave, if given by an employer, be paid leave. But if an employer does not treat employees consistently when they take leave (for example, one employee gets paid when she misses work because of a cold while others are not paid when they miss work for minor illnesses), that employer may risk discrimination claims brought by employees who use evidence of this different treatment to show they have been discriminated against.
An employer who does provide paid sick leave is allowed under law to take reasonable actions to ensure that the leave is used for its intended purpose and not as a means to obtain additional vacation time. For example, your employer may require you to call in each day you are ill, or require a doctor’s note for serious illnesses. Your employer may also monitor patterns of sick leave use, for example to identify employees who consistently take sick time at the beginning or end of the week (to have longer weekends) or at the end of each year (to avoid losing accrued sick time). Employees who abuse sick leave policies run the risk of discipline or termination.
- Does the law require that I be paid for unused accrued sick time when I leave my job?
Unless required to do so under an employment contract, collective bargaining agreement, or other legally binding agreement, an employer is not required to pay employees for accrued sick time when they leave their employment. In this respect, accrued sick time is unlike accrued vacation time which, in some states, must be paid as part of an employee’s final paycheck.
Some employers pay employees for unused sick time, possibly as an incentive for employees to not misuse sick leave. However, this practice is generally completely voluntary, unless required by a contract as discussed above.
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For more information regarding this article, visit http://www.workplacefairness.org/sick-leave#1
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