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12 Building Washington
MONTGOMERY COUNTY, MARYLAND’S
PAID SICK AND SAFE LEAVE
Montgomery County recently passed an amendment to
its County Code to require employers based or working
there to provide similar paid sick and safe leave to covered
employees. The law will take effect on October 1, 2016.
Employers with five or more workers in the County must
provide up to seven days of paid leave per year. Employers
with fewer than five employees will have to pay for up
to four days of leave and allow up to three unpaid days
of leave. Though similar to the Washington DC’s law, the
Montgomery County ordinance contains a number of
specific differences regarding such issues as carryover and
reasons for permissible paid leave.
WASHINGTON DC’S PROPOSED FAMILY LEAVE FUND
The newest proposed paid leave requirement is theUniversal
Paid Leave Act of 2015. Under this bill, not yet enacted into
law, all District of Columbia residents and workers would
be eligible for up to 12 weeks of paid leave for medical or
family reasons, including the birth, adoption or fostering
of a child. Private employers would be required to pay
into a new Family and Medical Leave Fund. Contributions
would depend on employees’ salaries: one percent for
every employee making over $150,000 per year and lesser
amounts for those in lower wage ranges. Employees who
earn on average a wage that is no more than twice the
District’s minimum wage are eligible for payment from the
fund at 90% of their average weekly salary. Individuals who
make more than twice the minimum wage are eligible for
a payment of 90% of double the District’s minimum wage
plus 50% of their salary above that amount for a total not
to exceed $1,500 a week. Again, out-of-state employers will
need to be concerned about the financial impact of the new
law, since it is expected that any employer whose employees
work a significant amount of time in Washington, DC will be
required to pay into the paid leave fund.
THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT’S
NEW PAID LEAVE REQUIREMENTS
The metropolitanWashington area is, of course, home to many
government construction contractors who perform work for
the federal government. Such contractors need to be aware
of the Executive Order signed by President Obama on Labor
Day 2015 requiring all covered federal contractors to provide
their employees with up to seven days of paid sick leave per
year, which includes family care. Significantly, the new paid
leave requirement will be in addition to the fringe benefit
requirements of the Davis-Bacon Act and/or Service Contract
Act and will not be creditable toward contractors’ compliance
obligations under those prevailing wage laws. This new
requirement is not yet in effect, but the Administration is in the
process of drafting regulations to implement the paid leave
requirement for government contractors in 2017.
CONCLUSION
Compulsory paid leave appears to be here to stay.
Construction industry employers need to be aware of the
maze of overlapping paid leave requirements, some of
which are already in effect. Failure to comply can lead to
severe penalties. For more information, contact the author
at
mbaskin@littler.com.n
Maury Baskin is a shareholder with the Washington,
DC, office of Littler Mendelson PC, representing
construction industry employers in all aspects of labor
and employment law. He serves as general counsel to
Associated Builders and Contractors.