These States & Cities Have New Sick Time Laws

Four new states join the existing 25 municipalities and states to pass paid sick leave laws providing workers with job-protected sick leave to care for themselves or a family member. To view a complete list of the existing sick leave laws, see our overview of all U.S. state and city sick time laws.

As of July 1, 2017, sick leave laws are in effect for Arizona, Chicago, Georgia, and Minneapolis.

Arizona

Under the Fair Wages and Healthy Families Act, all employers in Arizona are obligated to provide sick leave to full-time, part-time, and temporary employees. Employers with 15 or more employees must provide 40 hours of earned paid sick time per year. Employers with fewer than 15 employees must provide 24 hours of earned paid sick time per year.

Sick time will be accrued as a minimum of one hour for every 30 hours worked. These provisions apply only to Arizona employees. Non-Arizona employees will not be counted in an employer’s total employee count for earned paid sick time purposes. An employee may use earned paid sick time as soon as it is accrued.

However, employers can require employees hired after July 1, 2017, to wait 90 calendar days after the start of employment before using accrued earned paid sick time. The Fair Wages and Healthy Families Act provides that earned paid sick time shall be carried over to the following year, subject to usage limitations based on employer size.

Chicago

The City of Chicago’s Paid Sick Leave Ordinance requires employers who maintain a business facility and/or are required to obtain a business license to operate in the city to provide sick leave under certain conditions. Only employees who work at least 80 hours within any 120-day period are covered under the ordinance, including domestic employees, day laborers, tipped workers, and home health care workers.

Paid sick leave will be accrued as one hour for every 40 hours worked and will begin to accrue either on the first calendar after the state of employment or on July 1, 2017, whichever is later. Employees can earn up to 40 hours per year. Salaried employees who are exempt from overtime requirements shall accrue one hour of Paid Sick Leave for each week of employment. At the end of a 12-month accrual period, employees must be allowed to carry over up to half of the unused paid sick leave (a maximum of 20 hours) unless the employer sets a higher limit.

Georgia

Under Georgia’s Family Care Act, employers with 25 or more employees who already provide workers with paid sick leave must allow employees to use up to five days of their leave allowance to care for immediate family members. Unlike other states with paid sick leave laws, the statute does not obligate employers to provide sick days. The law applies to employees employed at businesses with 25 or more employees, as well as to state government employees. Covered employees include employees who work for salaries, wages, or other remuneration for at least 30 hours per week.

Minneapolis

Minneapolis’s Sick and Safe Time Ordinance requires employers to provide five days of sick leave to full-time, part-time, and temporary employees, as well as paid interns. Employers with 6 or more employees must provide paid sick leave, and employers with 5 or fewer employees may provide unpaid sick leave. Sick leave will be accrued at the rate of one hour for every thirty hours worked up to 48 hours a year.

An employer may also limit the total amount of unused sick and safe time in an employee’s “bank” to 80 hours during subsequent years. In addition, until July 1, 2022, during an employer’s first year of operation (except a new location in an existing chain), it may provide sick and safe time as unpaid.