ODs required to provide all employees paid sick leave effective July 1, 2015

As reported previously by COA, starting July 1, 2015, all employers, including doctors of optometry, must provide paid sick leave for all employees.

In addition, the California Healthy Workplaces, Health Families Act of 2014 (AB 1522) requires a new poster to be placed in the practice relative this new requirement. Failure to comply with the law can be expensive: up to $4,000 in fines, plus back wages for unpaid sick leave multiplied by three along with interest, plus attorney’s fees.

COA has available for members only a detailed fact sheet on this new requirement. Following is a snapshot of the new sick leave mandate:

• Beginning July 1, 2015, every full- and part-time employee is entitled to accrue paid sick leave.
• All employers must provide a minimum of 24 hours of paid sick time to current and new employees annually.
• Paid sick leave is to be accrued at the employee’s regular rate of pay of not less than one hour per every 30 hours worked, including overtime hours. (Note: The law does not preempt local regulations that provide for greater accrual or use of sick leave by employees, such as San Francisco. Doctors are urged to review local ordinances for any sick leave requirements.)
• Employers must permit the carryover of unused sick leave to the following year, however, that carryover can be capped at a maximum sick leave bank of 48 hours or six days.
• An employee is authorized to use paid sick time for medical and preventative care for the employee or his or her family; and, time to attempt to obtain relief if they are a victim of domestic violence, sexual assault or stalking.
• Written notice of the sick leave availability must be provided by employers to employees at the time of hire and given to existing employees no later than July 8, 2015. (The state Division of Labor Standards Enforcement makes available a “Notice to Employee” which contains the required sick leave employee communication.)
• An employer must display the new “Healthy Workplaces/Healthy Families Act of 2014” poster in a conspicuous location; failure to do so could result in a penalty of up to $100 per each offense. (COAmakes available the new sick leave poster plus the 16 other federal- and state-required workplace posters at a members-only substantial discount.)

More information on the sick leave requirement can be found at the state Division of Labor Standards Enforcement website.

Return on your dues investment: Compliance with the new sick leave mandate can return up to nearly two years of a doctor’s annual AOA-COA-local society dues investment by avoiding potential fines of $4,000 (or more), plus the placement of required employment law posters can return up to more than eight times a doctor’s annual AOA-COA-local society dues investment by avoiding potential fines up to $17,000.