State takes ‘soft’ approach as sick-time law takes effect
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Robert Kilroy, chairman of law firm Mirick O'Connell's Labor, Employment and Employee Benefits Group.
Starting today, employers in Massachusetts are subject to the new sick-time law approved by Bay State voters last fall, ensuring the right of all Massachusetts employees to earn sick time.
But they can expect a soft approach in the first six months or so under the new law. So says Robert Kilroy, chairman of law firm Mirick O’Connell’s Labor, Employment and Employee Benefits Group. Kilroy, who has studied the regulations and attended two hearings at Attorney General Maura Healey’s office, said Healey will likely avoid punitive action against companies that fail to comply with the law in the early months and instead act as an educational resource for employers.
Healey’s announcement Tuesday of a second round of informational sessions for employers on the new regulations within the law supports that. A series of webinars and web-based information sessions have been scheduled throughout July. (More information is available at www.mass.gov/ago/earnedsicktime.)
According to Kilroy, employers will need time to adapt to the law, which requires all Massachusetts employers to allow full- and part-time employees to accrue sick time. Employers with at least 11 employees must provide paid sick time, while those with fewer than 11 are allowed to provide unpaid sick leave.
Despite the fact that many companies already offer sick time policies in some form, Kilroy said employers in Massachusetts are generally “not very well prepared” to comply with the law. For example, many sick time policies apply only to full-time workers, while the new regulations also apply to part-time and temporary workers. Those rules also require considerable training time for managers, Kilroy said.
While Healey included a “Safe Harbor” agreement that allows companies with existing sick time policies until Jan. 1 to rewrite them, they must comply with the law immediately. And though the business community had pushed for a longer timeframe to implement the law, the Legislature was reluctant to delay it, Kilroy said.
“(Generally, employers) can see the good in aspects of (the law) in terms of how it impacts vulnerable workers in the state, but it’s just a challenge in terms of the training issues and getting the systems in place to roll this out effectively,” Kilroy said.
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