12 November 2019 San Antonio, Texas revised paid sick leave ordinance goes into effect on December 1, 2019 The City of San Antonio released a revised paid sick leave ordinance that goes into effect on December 1, 2019. Note, however, that similar to the City of Dallas, while accrual of paid sick leave must begin on December 1, 2019, the ordinance will not be enforced and employers will not be penalized until April 1, 2020, except in cases of retaliation against an employee. (City of San Antonio website; updated employer frequently asked questions, question 14) As we reported, the city announced in July 2019 that the original effective date of August 1, 2019 of the previously enacted ordinance was delayed to December 1, 2019 due to a lawsuit filed by a San Antonio business coalition. (EY Payroll Newsflash Vol. 20, #104, 7-30-2019.) Under the revised ordinance, all private San Antonio employers must provide a minimum of 56 hours of paid sick leave a year to their employees by allowing them to accrue one hour of sick leave for every 30 hours worked. Previously, employers with more than 15 employees were required to provide a minimum of 64 hours per employee per year and those with 15 or fewer employees had to provide a minimum of 48 hours per employee per year. There is now no delay in the effective date for employers with five or fewer employees.Previously, the effective date of the paid sick leave requirement was delayed to August 1, 2021 for these employers. The revised statute removes the provision that only employees who perform at least 80 hours of work within the city within a calendar year were eligible under the ordinance. Now, all individuals who solely perform work for pay in the city are eligible. Under the revision, employees who are typically based outside the geographical boundaries of the city, working more than 50% of the time outside the city, but working in the city on an occasional basis, are eligible for paid sick leave if services performed within the city equal more than 240 hours per year. Earned paid sick leave is required to be available to employees as soon as it is accrued; except that employers that have an established employment benefit eligibility period of 90 days or less may restrict or limit a new employee from using earned paid sick leave until after the employee's benefit eligibility period. Previously, an employer could restrict an employee from using earned paid sick time during the employee's first 60 days of employment. The employer must pay earned paid sick time at the rate of pay that the employee would have earned if the employee had worked the scheduled work time, exclusive of any overtime premium, tips, or commissions, but no less than the state minimum wage. An employer is required to allow employees to carry over to the next calendar year unused earned paid sick time of up to the yearly 56-hour cap, unless the employer awards the full amount of earned paid sick leave at the beginning of each year (known as frontloading). Anemployer is not required to pay accrued paid sick leave upon separation from employment. However, an employer must reinstate a separated employee's earned/unused leave if the employee returns to work after a separation of not more than six months. On no less than a monthly basis, employers are required to provide a statement to employees showing the amount of available earned paid sick time. The statement may be given on paper or electronically.An employer who provides an employee handbook to its employees must include a notice of an employee's rights and remedies under the paid sick leave law in that handbook. Employers must also post in a conspicuous place a notice as provided by the city. Employers should review the revised ordinance carefully, as many provisions have been expanded upon and/or revised (e.g., the definition of family member; verification of leave provisions; complaint procedures; and the ramifications of violation of the ordinance). The city is holding a series of information sessions on the revised ordinance. See the city's website for more information.
Document ID: 2019-2021 | |||||||||
