Skip to main content

Vermont Passes Required Paid Sick Leave Bill


Earlier this month, Vermont Governor Peter Shumlin signed into law a bill that will require employers provide paid sick leave for their employees.  In a move lauded by President Obama, under the bill, H. 187, employees in Vermont who work full time will be guaranteed at least three paid sick days from work in a 12 month period beginning January 1, 2017.  By 2019, that number will increase to a guaranteed five paid sick days.

This new law applies to all employers in the state, but there is an exemption provided for new employers.  (These new employers will not have to comply until one year after the employer hires its first employee.)    In addition, the earned sick time requirements will not apply to federal employees, employees under the age of 18, employees employed for 20 weeks or fewer, or employees that are employed on jobs that last 20 weeks or fewer.

For those employers who already offer paid sick leave, this law might not impact them.  Of course, it depends on whether these employees are already offered as much (or more) paid sick leave as the law now requires!

With the passing of this bill, Vermont joins California, Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Oregon as the only states that require paid sick leave for employees.  Note, there are approximately 20 cities and the District of Columbia which have also implemented paid sick leave. 



A statement from President Obama's support of the new bill can be found here:   https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2016/03/09/statement-president

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

NLRB: Discussion Among Employees About Tip Pooling is Protected Concerted Activity

  This Advice Memorandum from the National Labor Relations Board’s Associate General Counsel, Jayme Sophir, addressed whether employees which discussed and complained about tip pooling at work constituted protected concerted activity. In relevant part, an employer in New York operated a chain of steakhouses.  While tip pooling was in place at these steakhouses, some of the employees objected to it on the grounds that it was not transparent and improperly divided tips among the workers.  Employees were told not to complain or talk to each other about the tip pool and were told that doing so would endanger their jobs.  Despite the employer later attempting to provide some clarity as to how the tips were being divided, rancor still existed among some employees.  At one point, the employees were told by a general manager that some employees that had been talking about the tip pool were “cleared out” and the employer would continue to do so. In the Advice Memorandum,...
Post a Comment
Read more

Breaking: Labor Secretary Rumored to Be Leaving Administration

A few hours ago, word leaked out that Labor Secretary Marty Walsh (“Walsh”) is in the midst of negotiations to head up the NHL Players Union and leave his position at the Labor Department. Walsh, who has served as the sole Labor Secretary under President Biden, has taken part in a labor renaissance of sorts as support for organized labor has increased during his term as Labor Secretary (although the number of workers that have joined a union over the past two years has not grown as mush as some expected.)  He has also overseen the ongoing negotiations with rail workers over a new contract, although that matter is still on shaky ground and playing out as we speak. As for who might step into the vacant Labor Secretary role, there are already rumblings that President Biden should nominate Deputy Labor Secretary Julie Su (a strong labor advocate) or even a progressive like Senator Bernie Sanders.  Until Walsh officially gives his notice, however, I would expect some/many potential...
Post a Comment
Read more

San Diego Rolls Back Vaccine Mandate For City Workers

Last Tuesday, the San Diego City Council voted to do away with the vaccine mandate for city employees. The city’s vaccine mandate that was in place required city workers to get the coronavirus vaccine or risk termination.  Perhaps to this surprise of no one, the city’s policy came under fire with 14 employees being terminated and over 100 other employees resigning.  With the coronavirus subsiding, including in Southern California, the San Diego City Council took action. Now, bear in mind, the repeal of the vaccine mandate does not take place immediately. With that being said, the mandate will be repealed March 8th.  I suppose the question now is, what other cities or regions follow San Diego’s lead? For additional information:   https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/politics/story/2023-01-24/san-diego-repeals-controversial-covid-19-vaccine-mandate-citing-drop-in-cases-hospitalizations
Post a Comment
Read more