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Is My Employer Required to Give Me Time Off for Treatment and Care?
Whether your employer is required to provide time off for treatment and care depends on your state and local laws, as well as the number of employees in your workplace. […]
Whether your employer is required to provide time off for treatment and care depends on your state and local laws, as well as the number of employees in your workplace. Options such as the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) are often helpful to employees who need to take time off to care for their own health or provide care for a loved one, but this provision only applies to unpaid, job-protected leave. There aren’t any federal laws that require private employers to provide paid sick leave, but there are many states and local jurisdictions that have established their own paid sick leave laws within the past decade. Generally, these laws require employers to provide a designated amount of paid time off per year.
If your employer is required by state or local law to provide paid sick leave, the amount of time that can be used when you are ill will either accrue based on the number of hours worked per week or will already be accessible from a bank of sick time that refreshes at the beginning of each year. Depending on the laws in your area, this paid time off can be used to take care of yourself, someone in your family, or a friend. States and municipalities that have established mandatory paid sick leave laws include:
- Arizona
- California
- Colorado
- Connecticut
- Illinois
- Maine
- Maryland
- Massachusetts
- Michigan
- Nevada
- New Jersey
- New Mexico
- New York
- Oregon
- Rhode Island
- Vermont
- Washington
- District of Columbia
Ultimately, it is important to review if any laws in your state apply to paid sick leave and to ensure that you fully understand your rights. Most employers already have policies in place regarding paid time off and these are typically detailed in the employee handbook. If you have any further questions, a general best practice is to contact the human resources department at your workplace.
Sources
“Paid Sick Leave Laws by State for 2024”. Paycor. https://www.paycor.com/resource-center/articles/paid-sick-leave-laws-by-state/
“Sick Leave”. U.S. Department of Labor. https://www.dol.gov/general/topic/workhours/sickleave
