While the Center for Disease Control and Prevention published sick leaves guidelines for the coronavirus, the paid time off provided in those doesn’t apply when employees are dealing with other sicknesses. Hence, for other sicknesses, employers can utilize the guidelines provided by the U.S. Department of Labor to figure out the number of sick leaves employees can avail of. Let’s take a look at these guidelines in detail:
Paid Sick Leaves as Per US DOL Guidelines
According to the U.S. Department of Labor, employees qualify for paid sick leaves at a workplace after completing one year. In the second year of employment, employees can avail themselves eight days as sick leaves.
The number of sick leaves gradually increases as the number of years of employment increases for an employee with a specific employer. For example, after completing twenty-five years of service with a specific employer, an employee can receive eleven days of paid sick leaves.
How Offering Paid Sick Leaves Benefits Employers
Many employers may be hesitant to give paid sick leaves to employees. However, offering employees paid sick leaves benefits the employers more than it does employees.
Firstly, it shows employees that the employer complies with Government rules and guidelines. Secondly, it shows to employees that the employer provides fair employee benefits. Thirdly, it helps the employers save themselves against lawsuits that denying paid sick leaves can make them face. Finally, it helps employers maintain a healthy and hygienic environment.
The fourth benefit also allows employers to save money. If an employee shows up to work while being sick, they can easily spread the germs at the workplace, making other employees fall sick.
If an organization requires dealing with customers or third-party vendors, it can lose business by not providing sick employees paid time off to rest. People have become especially cautious since the coronavirus pandemic, and sick employees at work in need of money can scare them away.
Offering paid sick leaves also helps employers retain employees. Sickness is inevitable. The sick employee and even those who aren’t sick can start looking for other jobs if they are denied sick leaves. In that case, searching for new talent and recruiting and training new employees can cost more.
Instead of paid sick leaves, employers can also offer paid time off to their employees. Unlike paid sick leaves, the employee can utilize paid time off in whatever way they choose. It allows healthy employees to avail themselves of some time off without feeling guilty or getting shamed for it.
Don’t Forget to Check State Laws
Besides federal laws, state laws can also require employers to provide paid sick leaves to employees without any discrimination. Washington D.C. and states including New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Washington, Arizona, Vermont, Rhode Island, New Mexico, Oregon, Colorado, Maine, Connecticut, Nevada, Michigan, and California have state laws in place that require employers to provide some form of paid sick leaves to employees.
Last but not least, employers can decide on several paid sick leaves or paid time off days for their employees through evaluating their organization’s size and workload. Employers can also go through the detailed guidelines by the U.S. Department of Labor to help them find the magic number of sick leaves.
