Band Aid ClockA year after President Obama’s executive order establishing paid sick leave for federal contractors, the DOL has finally published its final rule, Establishing Paid Sick Leave for Federal Contractors, at 29 CFR Part 13. For those of you not wanting to read all 466 pages of the Final Rule, I’ll try to summarize the good stuff below. Keep in mind that this rule is applicable to covered federal contract work (more on that below). Importantly, many of the provisions are very similar to requirements in the Minneapolis and St. Paul Sick and Safe Leave ordinances, so if you are a federal contractor doing business in those cities and this new rule applies to your business, it would be wise to craft a policy that covers all the requirements.

The rule applies to new contracts after January 1, 2017 covered by the Davis-Bacon Act, Service Contract Act, and other concessions contracts and service contracts related to federal property or lands. All contracts that fall under the executive order Establishing a Minimum Wage for Contracts are also covered. The rule does not apply to work under collective bargaining agreements that provide at least 56 hours of PTO that can be used for health-related reasons until January 2, 2020 (or the date the CBA ends if sooner). Employers may use multiemployer plans to provide leave under this Final Rule. Also the rule does not apply to contracts for the manufacturing or furnishing of materials, supplies, articles, or equipment, including those subject to the Walsh-Healey Public Contracts Act. It also does not apply to employees “performing in connection with covered contracts for less than 20 percent of their work hours in a given workweek.”

  • PTO Accrual or Up Front Bucket – Employees must be able to accrue 1 hour of paid sick leave for every 30 hours worked on or in connection with a covered contract, up to 56 hours (7 days) per year (MSP and St. Paul cap at 3 days). Employees who do not need to record their time can be assumed to work 40 hours under the contract each week, or can use an estimate of hours worked (so long as reasonable and based on verifiable information). In lieu of accrual, employers may chose to provide 56 hours of PTO at the beginning of each accrual year.
  • Use of PTO – Employees must be able to use it while working on or in connection with a covered federal contract for own health needs or those of a family member, or due to being a victim of domestic violations, sexual assault or stalking (or to assist a family member who is a victim). Note, there is no waiting period.  Requests for PTO may be verbally or in writing (you can’t force them to put the request in writing, but after it is approved, you could ask that they follow the normal procedures to record that request such as through an online system). Denial of PTO for this purposes must be in writing with a reason why it is denied. Failure to find replacement worker is not a reason to deny.
  • Carryover of PTO – Employees must be able to carryover up to 56 hours from year to year while working for the same contractor on covered contracts – and get unused PTO back if return to work within a  year of leaving a job on a covered contract.
  • Recordkeeping – Employers must provide the employee with their PTO availability each pay period.
  • Payout of PTO – not required, but if an employer pays out PTO upon termination, and the employee later returns to the job, the employer does not need to restore unused leave.
  • Proof – Employers may require a doctor’s note or other documentation supporting the need for leave of 3 days or more (be sure to follow the process provided).

In any event, given the direction of city ordinances and the spread of such sick and safe leave laws, contractors should consider revising their PTO policy (hopefully you still don’t have a separate sick leave and vacation policy) to incorporate the most employee generous of all the applicable leaves to your business, so that your PTO policy will be compliant with all the laws and ordinances your business needs to function with little further administrative burden. As always, employers should be sure not to retaliate for requesting or taking such leave, or otherwise discriminate or interfere these rights. Finally, if you can’t get enough, or want more information, the DOL has a series of information on the Final Rule that can be located here.