Proposed Rules for Establishing Paid Sick Leave for Federal Contractors - Part 2

Last Friday we discussed newly proposed regulations that will require Government contractors to begin offering paid sick leave up to seven days a year or one hour for every 30 hours worked. If you missed that post, you can go back and read it by clicking here. The proposed regulations are quite voluminous and will require contractors to read, understand, and implement corresponding policies and procedures and hopefully stay out of trouble.

Following are a few more highlights of the proposed regulations.

Paid sick leave shall be provided upon the oral or written request of an employee that includes the expected duration of the leave, and is made at least seven calendar days in advance where the need for leave is foreseeable, and in other cases as soon as is practicable. The latter would include employees calling in sick.

Contractors may require employees to provide certification or documentation regarding the use of leave for absences of three or more consecutive workdays. Contractors are required to maintain confidentiality of verification information regarding domestic abuse, sexual assault, or stalking.

Contractors are not required to make a financial payment to an employee upon a separation from employment for unused accrued sick leave. However, as discussed last Friday, unused sick leave is subject to reinstatement if the employee is rehired by a "covered" contractor within a year of separation.

The new regulations apply to solicitations issued after January 1, 2017. This could result in implementation complexities as contractors will initially have a mix of covered and non-covered employees.

Paid sick leave will apply to all contracts and any subcontracts of any tier, whether negotiated or advertised, including any procurement actions, lease agreements, cooperative agreements, provider agreements, intergovernmental service agreements, service agreements, licenses, permits, or any other type of agreement, regardless of nomenclature, type, or particular form and whether entered into verbally or in writing. Additionally, it applies to notices of awards, job orders or task letters issued under basic ordering agreements, letter contracts, and orders such as purchase orders. In short, it applies to just about everything except Federal grants.

Tomorrow we will continue unpacking the proposed sick leave requirements.