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1 Earned Sick Time AIM Webinar FAQs Contents Introduction... 2 Eligible Employees... 2 Accrual... 3 Use... 4 Rate of Pay... 7 Documentation... 8 Holiday Pay... 9 Carry Over Payouts Impact on Current Paid Time Off, Sick Pay and Vacation Policies Transition Year Part-Time Employees Support Questions... 17

2 Introduction The following FAQ responds to all of the questions generated in AIM s webinar on the new Earned Sick Time law. The questions have been grouped into categories. Within each category, similar questions are grouped together and, where appropriate, a single answer may respond to more than one question. At the beginning of each category is a brief summary of the questions raised and in most cases the relevant section of the law is quoted. Eligible Employees The ballot question language broadly defines who is an employee. any person who performs services for an employer for wage, remuneration, or other compensation subsection (a) This broad definition led to many employer questions on temporary, seasonal, commissioned and other employee classifications. Q: Are employees who are on commission only, entitled to paid sick time? A: Yes. All employees are eligible. However, they are to be paid at the same rate that they earn at the time of the absence. If the employee does not receive a base salary, then you would provide up to 40 hours of Earned Sick Time without pay. Q: Are seasonal employees eligible if they only work 2 or 3 months out of 12. A: Seasonal employees are not specifically referenced in the ballot question. AIM is seeking further guidance. However, employees do have to wait 90 days before they can use any accrued sick time. Q: If we have non-direct temporary employees (using an agency for temp to hire). Are they, too, considered our company employees for purpose of this law? A: They are employees of the staffing agency and would accrue Earned Sick Time through the staffing agency. Q: Are independent contractors entitled to sick time? We don't provide any benefits to them. A: The ballot question defines an employee as any person who performs services for an employer for wage, remuneration, or other compensation. This broad definition could be interpreted to include independent contractors. Further guidance in this area is needed. Q: What about state employee? A: State employees would be eligible for Earned Sick Time.

3 Accrual The Massachusetts Earned Sick Time ballot question states that employees accrue one hour of Earned Sick Time for every 30 hours worked. An employer shall provide a minimum of one hour of earned sick time for every thirty hours worked by an employee. Employees shall begin accruing earned sick time commencing with the date of hire of the employee or the date this law becomes effective, whichever is later subsection(d)(1) Participants had several questions on this accrual process. Q: Are overtime hours to be considered in accruing sick time or is there a cap of 40 hours a week? A: The ballot questions states that an employee earns 1 hour for every 30 hours worked. It does not mention straight time or overtime hours. It appears that that overtime hours would be considered for accrual purposes. Q: Can an employer give full time employees 48 hours of sick time & part time employees 40 hours of sick time? A: Assuming that the accrual towards 48 hours for full-time employees and the accrual towards 40 hours for part-time employees meet the 1 hour per 30 hours worked accrual schedule, then both would be allowed under the current language since all employees would be accruing at least 40 hours or Earned Sick Time. However, AIM advises waiting until the Attorney General s office issues any guidance or regulations to ensure that there are no prohibitions against making distinctions between full-time and part-time employees. Q: Do unworked hours count toward accrual? For example, Vacation, Holiday...even Sick Time? Q: Hours worked does not include paid time off, such as vacation, jury duty, funeral leave, military leave... correct? Q: If an employee is out on leave (i.e. workers comp, FMLA, etc.) can employer stop accruals for sick time while employee is on leave since the new accrual is based on 1 hour accrued for 30 hours worked? A: The language specifically states hours worked. Paid hours for vacation, holiday, time on leave, and other hours that do not correspond to worked hours would not be counted towards the accrual of earned sick time. Q: If our sick time is awarded in increments aligned with our attendance policy, how does this work? For example, currently if an employee has 24 hours sick time coming in 1/2015 and they are on a written warning, our attendance policy states that they would be awarded 12 hours in Jan and then 12 in February. A: The language does not make provisions for alternative accrual schedules that would be less than at least 1 hour accrued for each 30 hours worked. Granting 24 hours on January 1 or 12 hours on January 1 and another 12 hours on February 1 would both meet the rate of

4 accrual requirement. However, the new law states that you have to provide up to 40 hours per year, not 24. In addition, AIM would advise waiting until the Attorney General s office issues any guidance or regulations to ensure that there are no prohibitions against making distinctions between full-time and part-time employees or limits on attendance policy disciplinary procedures. Q: If time is accrued by pay period and the last payroll for the year is in mid-december is this compliant? A: It would be difficult to have hours accrue by pay period for nonexempt employees. You must credit one hour for every 30 hours worked. Under a per pay period accrual system, nonexempt employees who work overtime would not get credit for those extra hours. In addition, the law gives credit for all hours worked in a calendar up until 40 hours have been accrued. You would have to count the hours worked in late December but paid in the following January for any employee who had not yet reached the 40 hour maximum. Q: Our seasonal employees are terminated every November. Are they allowed to carry over accrued sick time balance if rehired in April the following year? Are they considered terminated in November and accrual starts rehire date in April? (July for 2015) A: The language makes no mention on how breaks in service are to be handled. In absence of guidance, it would appear that there is no credit for prior accruals given to the rehired employee. However, this an issue on which the Attorney General s office could provide additional guidance. AIM will inform its members of any guidance or regulations issued by the Attorney General s office. Use The ballot question identifies 4 reasons why Earned Sick Time could be used: To care for a medical condition of the employee To care for a medical condition of the employee s spouse, child, parent or parent-in-law To attend routing medical appointments for the employee of the employee s spouse, child, parent or parent-in-law To attend to the effects of domestic violence. The specific language reads: Earned sick time shall be provided by an employer for an employee to: (1) care for the employee s child, spouse, parent, or parent of a spouse, who is suffering from a physical or mental illness, injury, or medical condition that requires home care, professional medical diagnosis or care, or preventative medical care; or

5 (2) care for the employee s own physical or mental illness, injury, or medical condition that requires home care, professional medical diagnosis or care, or preventative medical care; or (3) attend the employee s routine medical appointment or a routine medical appointment for the employee s child, spouse, parent, or parent of spouse; or (4) address the psychological, physical or legal effects of domestic violence as defined in subsection (g 1/2) of section 1 of chapter 151A, except that the definition of employee in subsection (a) will govern for purposes of this section. Subsection (c) The ballot question also states that Earned Sick Time may be used in the lesser of increments of 1 hour or the smallest increment that the employer s payroll system uses to track absence. Earned sick time shall be used in the smaller of hourly increments or the smallest increment that the employer s payroll system uses to account for absences or use of other time. Subsection (d)(7) Participants had the following questions on how Earned sick Time may be used. Q: Can't an employer limit the hours used to 40 within a year? A: Yes, the employer can limit the amount of earned Sick Time used in one year to 40 hours. Q: What if an employee is sick, and we don't have any reason not to believe them, but they don't want to be paid, so that they can keep time to use later in the year? Can we allow them to go unpaid? Q: Employees may use or must use if the circumstances apply? A: The ballot question language does not state that an employee must use Earned Sick Time when issues for which it may be used arise. While an employer could make it optional, employers should be consistent in their application of Earned Sick Time. Q: Can I require an employee to apply sick time to a "waiting period" for short term disability? Currently there is a 40-hour waiting period before Short term disability benefits begin. Will this law affect the STD waiting period requirement? A: An employer could have a policy that requires employees to apply time off to applicable time off benefits. If the reason for the absence does not fit into one of the four reasons for using Earned Sick Time, then the employer could not require the employee to use accrued Earned Sick Time. Q: If required to pay "by the minute" and employee doesn't need to provide documentation for any absence less than 24 consecutive hours, won't employees use minutes of earned sick time whenever they are late to work?

6 Q: Could employee come in late by 3 minutes every day and used sick time-our payroll is by minute? A: If the employee s reason for being late falls into one of the reasons allowed by Earned Sick Time, then the employee could properly allocate the 3 minute absence to his/her Earned Sick Time accrual. However, due to the inability of an employer to ask for documentation (see FAQ section on Documentation), an employee so inclined could take advantage of Earned Sick Time to avoid attendance policy violations. AIM plans to discuss this issue with the Attorney General. Q: We pay to the minute but we record everything as the quarter of the hour - does that mean we need to change to the minute on sick time?? That is a nightmare tracking. A: If your payroll system tracks time to the minute for absence or any other purpose, then you must allow employees to take time in as small as 1 minute increments. Q: We have an all-encompassing PTO policy that covers vacation, sick and personal days. We only pay in full days (8 hours per day). We accrue in days not hours based on length of employment - 1, 1.25, 1.5, 2 days per month. Can we continue to pay in full days only? A: Employers must allow employees to use Earned Sick Time in as small as one hour increments or in smaller increments if you track time in smaller increments. You would not be able to limit the use of Earned Sick Time to full day increments only. Q: How does an employee apply this new law to eliminate salaried employees (exempt or nonexempt) from taking any more sick time than accrued? Must be 40 hours annually or else time off is unpaid after the accrued or 40 hours are consumed? A: The Earned Sick Time law does not address any excess use of sick time. However, this might be the time to clearly communicate company policy and time tracking procedures to address abuses. Q: If someone carries over 32 hours into the next year, and uses 40 hours of sick by June, then is out sick again in August, are we required to pay sick time again, or are we only required to pay up to 40 hours in one year, even if they have carry over? A: Employers are only required to pay 40 hours per calendar year, even if the employee has more than 40 hours through accrual and carryover. Q: Is there any discussion of allowing employers to set their own calendar? We are a seasonal holiday business and concerned about employees using up their sick time in December. A: The ballot language references calendar years for both carryover and accrual. Even if an employer could use a year other than a calendar year, an employee s ability to carryover up to 40 hours may limit an employer s attempts to limit unplanned absences during a peak season. Q: What about an employee who is legal guardian of a child or mentally impaired adult? Are those people covered under the law?

7 A: Yes, a child is defined as a biological, adopted, or foster child, a stepchild, a legal ward, or a child of a person who has assumed the responsibilities of parenthood. Q: Does "spouse" include certified domestic partner? Q: Is Domestic Partner recognized as "spouse"? A: No, spouse is defined under the laws of marriage in Massachusetts Rate of Pay The ballot question states that Earned Sick Time is to be paid at the rate the employee would have been paid if he/she had worked. Earned paid sick time is compensated at the same hourly rate as the employee earns from the employee s employment at the time the employee uses the paid sick time; provided, however, that this hourly rate shall not be less than the effective minimum wage under section 1 of chapter 151. Subsection (a) Employers had several questions on whether overtime and shift differential premiums should be included in the rate of pay for Earned Sick Time Q: AIM really needs to emphasize the problem with being required to pay sick rate equal to what would have been earned if worked: our rates for Saturdays, Sundays and Holidays Worked are higher and if sick leave is paid at same rate then we have no leverage for people coming to work their scheduled shifts! This is a serious problem for manufacturing that operates 24/7. A: AIM has developed a comprehensive list of employer concerns that it will share with the incoming Attorney General and her staff. Most employers do not include overtime premiums when calculating paid time off. The more common practice is to not provide any paid time off for calling in sick for an overtime shift and to instead use the disciplinary process under the applicable attendance policy or collective bargaining agreement. We have identified this issue as a key employer concern. Q: Does "...same hourly rate" mean with shift differential? Q: Does the pay rate for sick time have to include the shift differential pay rate? Q: Do you need to include shift differentials in the "pay rate"? A: A literal reading of the text might lead someone to conclude that shift differential would be included in calculating Earned Sick Time. However, most employees know that shift differential is usually not considered when calculating paid time off. AIM will be emphasizing this common practice to the attorney General s office. At this time, it is not possible at this

8 time to state with certainty whether shift differential will or will not be considered when calculating Earned Sick Time. Q: Does Earned sick time count only as 100% of pay or can it be for less than 100% of pay? A: It would appear by the language that 100% of the employee s base rate at the time of the absence would need to be paid. As mentioned above, further clarification is needed on premium pay such as shift differentials and overtime rates. Q: If an employee regularly works 9 hours per day, 8 regular and 1 overtime, if that employee takes a sick day, do we have to pay 8 sick hours at regular rate and 1 sick hour at overtime rate? A: As mentioned above, further clarification is needed on premium pay such as shift differentials and overtime rates. In this scenario, the additional complication is that the employee s regular pay day is 9.5 hours, which includes 0.5 hours of overtime pay. Documentation Many employers expressed concern over limitations placed on employers to request documentation of absences from employees who use Earned Sick Time. an employer may require certification when an earned sick time period covers more than 24 consecutively scheduled work hours. Subsection (f) The type of documentation that may be required is defined as Any reasonable documentation signed by a health care provider indicating the need for earned sick time taken shall be deemed acceptable. Subsection (f) Employers questions were as follows: Q: If an 8 hour employee is out for 3 days can the company require certification since it's not over 24 hours? Monday - Wednesday and return Thursday? Q: Current policy mandates a health care provider note for return to work after 24 hours of consecutive absence. Does this new law affect our current policy? A: Yes it would. You would not be able to request documentation unless the time off exceeded 24 consecutively scheduled hours. Q: Employees do not have to provide doctor's note unless they are out more than 3 days? A: Yes, assuming that each day is 8 or fewer scheduled hours. Employees with scheduled days of more than 8 hours would have to provide documentation in less than 3 consecutive days of absence.

9 Q: If they take both Friday and Monday - would that be considered consecutive? A: If the employee s regularly scheduled work week is Mon Fri, then taking Friday and Monday off would be considered consecutive. Assuming they are both 8 hour work days, then the employee would have taken 16 hours of consecutively scheduled time and would not need to provide documentation. Q: If we ask for a note and don't receive, then are those hours considered "regular" PTO or do we only count 23 of those 24 hours? How do we manage those who say they weren't able to see a doctor? A: The ballot question does not provide guidance on what an employer may do if an employee fails to provide documentation. Q: Return to work notes should be required especially if there is an off duty "injury" that may be subject to a workers compensation fraud claim - this is an employer s right. A: The ballot question language places limits on the documentation that an employer can request when an employee uses Earned Sick Time. In cases where the use of Earned Sick Time overlaps with workers compensation, an employer will often need documentation for absences that are less than 24 consecutive hours to properly manage claims. It is hoped that guidance from the Attorney General s office will address this meed. Q: Who would provide documentation related to domestic violence - lawyer, legal authority? Q: Would a domestic violence event always involve a doctor? Or would documentation need to come from elsewhere? A: Massachusetts Domestic Leave Act allows documentation from a court, a police report, medical documentation or an affidavit from a counselor or the employee. Holiday Pay Many employers asked questions about how Earned Sick Time might impact their current policies that deny holiday pay to an employee who takes undocumented time off immediately before or after the holiday. Employers argue that these policies are necessary to have predictable attendance around holidays. These employers are concerned that the limitations placed on employers to request documentation for absences of 24 hours or less (see Documentation section of the FAQs) will prevent them from enforcing such policies. In addition, they are asking whether these policies will be allowed once Earned Sick Time becomes law. Q: We have a policy that prohibits a sick day before or after a holiday in order to be paid for the holiday. Does this new law allow this policy and require that the employer pay the sick day and holiday pay?

10 Q: Non-collective bargaining, current policy is no holiday pay if you call out sick the day before or after the holiday. Are we now prohibited from doing that? Q: If our existing policy states that you cannot attach a sick day to the day before or after a holiday or attach a sick day to before or after a vacation day, can we keep that policy? Q: Currently you have work before and after the holiday to receive pay for the holiday. Would we need to pay associates who call in before and after a holiday if they are claiming it s covered under earned sick time? Q: Can our policy that states the holiday is unpaid if the employee takes sick time before or after the holiday still apply? Q: We do not pay holiday pay if an employee uses a sick day before or after the holiday. Do we need to alter our policy if the new law states that they can do that? A: The ballot question language states that an employer cannot consider the use of Earned Sick Time as a negative factor in employment actions. The actions described relate to disciplinary actions. An employer could argue that it does not extend to pay actions such as denying holiday pay. However, an opposing argument would be that denying holiday pay is a form of discipline. Further guidance is needed to determine whether these policies would be considered a form of discipline. The ballot question language does not provide an exception to the prohibition on requesting documentation for absences of 24 consecutive hours or less when they fall before or after a holiday. Without further guidance employers may not be able to enforce these policies. Carry Over The ballot question states that employees may carry over up to 40 hours of Earned Sick time from the current calendar year in the next calendar year. Employees may carry over up to 40 hours of unused earned sick time to the next calendar year Sec. 1(d)(7) Participants had several questions on carrying over accrued Earned Sick Time. Q: Can an employee carryover MORE than 40 hours? A: While the ballot question language states that an employee may be allowed to carry over up to 40 hours into the next calendar year, another section of the ballot question states that employers may allow employees to accrue and use Earned Sick Time in a more generous manner Nothing in this chapter shall be construed to discourage or prohibit an employer from allowing the accrual of earned sick time at a faster rate, or the use of earned sick time at an earlier date, than this section requires. Sec. 1(d)(2)

11 However, this section of the ballot question does not mention carryover. Another section states that an employer may provide more generous sick pay policies Nothing in this section shall be construed to discourage employers from adopting or retaining earned sick time policies more generous than policies that comply with the requirements of this section Sec. 1(j) Under this section, it appears that an employer could allow an employee to carryover more than 40 hours into the following calendar year. However, if that employer is also limiting the amount of Earned Sick Time an employee can use in a calendar year to 40 hours, then there would be no reason to allow more than 40 hours of carryover. It would only make sense to allow more than 40 hours of carryover if your are also going to be more generous in the amount of time that can be used and increased the annual use to more than 40 hours. Q: What happens with a rehire? Is the carry over back in play? Q: Our seasonal employees are terminated every November. Are they allowed to carry over accrued sick time balance if rehired in April the following year? Are they considered terminated in November and accrual starts rehire date in April? (july for 2015) A: The language makes no mention on how breaks in service are to be handled. In absence of guidance, it would appear that there is no credit for prior carry over balances given to the rehired employee. However, this an issue on which the Attorney General s office could provide additional guidance. AIM will inform its members of any guidance or regulations issued by the Attorney General s office. Q: We do not currently allow employees to carry over time. We start fresh each year. Do we have to allow a 40 hour carryover or can we just pay out at the end of the year? A: The ballot question language states that an employee may carryover up to 40 hours of accrued time. While it might be possible that an employer could provide an employee the option of carryover or an end of the year payout (see the section on payouts), an employer would not be able to deny an employee the opportunity to carryover up to 40 hours. Payouts Several employers were concerned about the payout requirements under Massachusetts Earned Sick Time. The ballot question states that employers are not required to payout sick time on an employee s termination. Employers shall not be required to pay out unused earned sick time upon the separation of the employee from the employer. Sec. 1(d)(7)

12 However, the ballot question does not address end of the year payout questions. Many employers pay out unused days at the end of the year as an incentive or reward for attendance. The ballot question states that employees may carry over up to 40 hours. Employees may carry over up to 40 hours of unused earned sick time to the next calendar year. Sec. 1(d)(7) But, can the employer offer the option to receive a payout or a carryover of accrued hours at the end of the year? The ballot question does not address this question. AIM will be sharing these questions with the Attorney General s office as they prepare to issue guidance prior to July 1, Q: If an employee leaves your employment, and has accrued sick time, are they to be paid out for unused sick time in their last check? Q: With the rollover, an employee can accrue a sizable balance...is that payable upon termination? A: No, employers are not required to pay out unused earned sick time to the employee upon the separation from employment with the employer. Q: Currently we allow any unused personal time to go into a short term disability bank, if not used it is paid out at departure at 1/3 of its total. I assume this would no longer be allowed. A: Employees are allowed to carryover up to 40 hours of Earned Sick Time the current year to the next year to be used as Earned Sick Time, not just for a short term disability bank. The ballot question language states that an employer shall not be required to pay out accrued and unused Earned Sick Time on termination of employment. It is silent on whether an employer may payout some or all Earned Sick Time upon termination. Absent further clarification this might be okay. Q: If it is not your policy to pay out any sick time or accrued time and you did not use it. Can you lose it? Following the 80 hour example? For instance our policy with floating holidays is a use it or lose it policy. A: If an employee has in excess of 40 hours of accrued Earned Sick Time at the end of the year, then the employer could limit the carryover to 40 hours and the employee would lose the hours in excess of 40. Q: If we give all employees every January 1st 40 hours paid sick time, can we pay out unused sick time on December 31st? A: Employees have to be able to carryover up to 40 hours of accrued and unused sick time from the current calendar year to the next. An employer cannot unilaterally payout any accrued and used Earned Sick Time. It is uncertain whether an employer can offer an

13 employee the option of receiving a payout at the end of the year either in lieu of carrying over time or for time in excess of 40 hours. The ballot language does state that employers may not take adverse employment actions against employees who use Earned Sick Time, but the adverse actions described relate to disciplinary actions. It appears that an employer may be able either to pay out accrues Earned Sick Time in excess of 40 hours or provide an option to employees to carryover the time up to 40 hours or receive a payout for those hours, instead. AIM would advise waiting until the Attorney General s office issues any guidance or regulations on paying out Earned Sick Time. Q: If we have a use it or lose it for vacation, we do not offer paid sick time at this time, can we still have a use it or lose it with no payout? A: There are several matters to be addressed in this question. First, under current Massachusetts law, earned vacation time needs to be paid at the time of termination. Employers can place limits on the amount of vacation time that can be accrued or carried over, but employers must pay the earned vacation time that the employee has when the employee s employment terminates for any reason. The ballot question specifically states that employers are not required to pay out Earned Sick Time to the employee when employment terminates. Effective July 1, 2015, you will have to make up to 40 hours available per calendar year to employees to use for the purposes stated in the Earned Sick Time ballot question. If you do not distinguish which time is Earned Sick Time and which time is vacation time, then you run the risk of having to pay out all of the time on termination. Impact on Current Paid Time Off, Sick Pay and Vacation Policies Many Massachusetts employers already have some type of paid time off policy that provides 40 hours or more of paid time off per year. These employers have asked if they can maintain their current policies. The ballot question does address this question. Employers required to provide earned paid sick time who provide their employees paid time off under a paid time off, vacation or other paid leave policy who make available an amount of paid time off sufficient to meet the accrual requirements of this section that may be used for the same purposes and under the same conditions as earned paid sick time under this section are not required by this section to provide additional earned paid sick time. Sec. 1(k) These employers are not required to provide additional time provided the time that they provide meets the accrual requirements and may be used for the same purposes as stated in the ballot question language (See FAQ section on Use). Employers should be cautious in taking this approach, however. Calling all paid time off Earned Sick Time would extend the benefit to parttime and temporary employees and would allow employees to use all of their time with the same notice and documentation requirements of Earned Sick Time. These requirements may be too

14 burdensome for many employers. These employers will face the decision of either adding additional time or carving out 40 hours of their current time off benefits to be used as Earned Sick Time. Q: Does this law have a clause similar to the Connecticut Law that states: An employer shall be deemed to be in compliance if the employer offers any other paid leave, or combination of other paid leave that: (1) may be used for the purposes of section 3 of this act, and (2) is accrued in total at a rate equal to or greater than the rate described in subsections (a) and (b) of this section. For the purposes of this subsection, "other paid leave" may include, but not be limited to, paid vacation, personal days or paid time off. Q: Currently we pay sick time & vacation, but the sick time allowance is only two days annually. The company owners do not want to pay additional sick time so we are considering a PTO program, combining our current sick & vacation allowances. How could a PTO program mesh with the sick pay law? Q: If sick time is included in PTO time (sick, personal, vacation), do we need to separate it? A: Yes, see the section of the ballot question quoted in the introduction to this section of the FAQs. However, as stated above, this would require that the time off accrue at least as fast as one hour for each 30 hours worked. Also, the employer would have to allow employees to use the accrued time off under the same conditions as provided by Earned Sick Time.. We find that most existing policies differ from the requirements of the law and revisions must be made in order to comply. Q: If we have a PTO policy in which employees receive a set amount of time January 1st to use as they see fit. Are we in compliance with the new law? Q: We currently have a PTO system that meets the accrued days off from date of hire. My understanding was that this system would cover us for a sick time law. Is that still true? Q: If you offer vacation and floating holidays, does the sick time accrual offer additional time off? Can you change the buckets to be all inclusive without adding 40 more hours? Q: We offer 8 hours personal and 40 hours vacation in the first year. Accruals start at first day of employment. Employees can use for sick time. If we have vacation accrue at the EST rate, are we in compliance? We have 17 employees. A: Employers who provide 40 or more hours per year of paid time off may not have to add any additional time for Earned Sick Time. These employers could either carve out 40 hours of the time provided and dedicate it to Earned Sick Time or allow all of the time be used under the same conditions as provided by Earned Sick Time purposes. Q: We provide our hourly with 40 hours the first of the year do we still need to follow the law and still accrue in payroll the 40 hours?

15 A: You would not have to accrue any additional time during the year provided you allow employees to use the time you provide under the same conditions as allowed under the Earned Sick Time law. Q: What if all your time available is under an earned time bank? Will you have to separate the 40 hours out? A: Employees accrue time each calendar year regardless of existing sick time banks. Q: Our Company Policy states sick time for employee illness only - this law now states we have to allow them sick time for their children, spouse, etc. So this will over-ride our policycorrect? A: That is correct. You will have to expand the use of sick time to include all of the family members and all of the reasons stated in the law. Transition Year The Earned Sick Time law is scheduled to take effect July 1, This mid-year start date has many employers concerned about how to manage paid time off in a year in which one policy is effective for the first half of the years and a different policy is effective for the Q: As of 7/1/2015, will an employee have already accrued 40 hours of sick time...1/1/2015-7/1/2015? Q: How do you hold off on making changes if you give employees 40 hours 1-1 of each year knowing they could get 40 more hours in the last 6 months? Q: If an employer offers 16 hours paid sick time as of the first of the year, should they hold off on this coverage until 7/1, since the employee would be eligible to earn additional paid time as of 7/1/15? Q: What should we do for paid sick time before 7/1/15 if we do offer paid sick time already? As well as paid vacation time? Q: If we front load sick time in January 2015 (40 hours paid) and the employee uses all or part of their time prior to July, do we have to reissue 40 hours in July when it becomes law? Q: We have always given our employees sick time how can we not do that anymore and then have the problem of reissuing in July? Q: Could we start the accrual process in January instead of July? If we do does this mean they can accrue 40 hours in the first six months of the year and then start accruing another 40 starting in July, giving them 80 by the end of the year or would it just be 40 and no more? Q: Question 4 states that the 40 hours of sick time is for the calendar year (Jan - Dec). Even if the law starts on July 1st couldn't the employer make a case that we did offer 40 hours of sick time for the calendar year? Why is that not acceptable? A: That is a reasonable interpretation of the ballot question language. While employees begin to accrue time under the law on July 1, 2015, an employer may be able to point to the language that states an employer can provide equal or additional time under a policy

16 provided the time can be used under the same conditions. Another interpretation of the law would be that employees begin to accrue time in July in addition to whatever else they have already accrued. While it is not possible at this time to know how exactly the law will be interpreted, AIM will be communicating that the first interpretation best represents the intent of the law to provide employees with 40 hours or Earned Sick Time per calendar year. Q: Just want to express my concern about the timing of that start of this law. Can we try to push for calendar year start (1-2016)? A: AIM understands this concern. We will be advocating measures such as this to minimize the impact of the transitional year on employers. Q: This law is effective July 1st, does this mean that this time will be pro-rated from July to December and then start fresh come January or are they allowed to roll over this time into the new year? A: Employees would likely be able to carry over all of their accrued and unused time rom 2015 into Q: Will AIM be issuing a boiler plate Employer message for distribution to employees regarding this transition? A: In a recent blog, AIM provided guidance on how to approach the transition year. You can read the blog here: tight?utm_source=hs_ &utm_medium= &utm_content= &_hsenc=p2anqtz- 9LYc0KiW1zb4LntEcD8hHdLl5UvsR4y3eZdVvn_OZK- PVJWUyuvmIt23fOx1mbQoX2QvEyXyWwU3XrQTZ0VYNewfxMJw&_hsmi= The blog includes the following language that employers might want to use when communicating with their employees. As you know, Massachusetts voters passed the Earned Sick Time Law this November. We will likely need to make some changes to our current time off-policies to comply with the new law. It appears that the law will require us to modify how time off is accrued, used, carried over, documented and tracked. The law may also require that we reclassify some of our existing time off benefits as earned sick time. We will watch for guidance that may be provided by the commonwealth and announce changes to our policies sometime prior to July 1, 2015 when the law takes effect. In the meantime, we will follow our existing policy. Part-Time Employees Several employers had questions about how Earned Sick Time affects part-time employees. The ballot language states that the law applies to all employees and that all employees accrue time at the same rate, one hour for every 30 hours worked. Employers have expressed concern that they will now have to extend paid time off to part-time employees who previously did not

17 accrue time off benefits and that part-time employees could accrue more time off than their pro rata share when compared to full time employees. Q: How does this law effect part time employees? A: Part-time employees accrue, use and carryover Earned Sick Time at the same rate and under the same conditions as full-time employees. Q: Does employee include PT less than 30 hours? A: Yes, there is no threshold at which employees either do or do not qualify for Earned Sick Time. All employees are eligible to accrue, use and carryover Earned Sick Time. Q: Do you have to give 40 hours total or is it prorated for part time people? A: Part-time employees accrue at the same rate as full-time employees - one hour for every 30 hours worked up to 40 total hours of Earned Sick Time per year. Support Questions We received a few messages about the presentation materials. Q: Will we receive copies of the PowerPoint presentation after the webinar? Q: Will we be able to print the slides? A: The PowerPoint was provided in pdf format to all participants. Please contact Carrie Stowe at cstowe@ if you did not receive a copy. Q: Will Certificates of Attendance be issued for this webinar? A: The webinar was approved for 1 general recertification credit through HRCI. Participants interested in obtaining the coding information for this credit should contact Carrie Stowe at cstowe@.