Paid Sick Leave for Federal Contractors is Here: DOL Announces Final Rule

On September 29, 2016, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) announced publication of the final rule implementing the paid sick leave executive order that applies to federal contractors. Executive Order (EO) 13706, Establishing Paid Sick Leave for Federal Contractors requires certain federal contractors to provide their employees up to seven days of paid sick leave per year.

The final rule permits employees to take paid sick leave for absences resulting form:

1. a “physical or mental illness, injury, or medical condition”;
2. “obtaining diagnosis, care, or preventive care from a health care provider”;
3. “caring for a child, a parent, a spouse, a domestic partner, or any other individual related by blood or affinity whose close association with the employee is the equivalent of a family relationship who has any of the conditions or needs for diagnosis, care, or preventive care described in (i) or (ii) or is otherwise in need of care”; or
4. “domestic violence, sexual assault, or stalking, if the time absent from work is for the purposes described in (i) or (ii), to obtain additional counseling, to seek relocation, to seek assistance from a victim services organization, or take related legal action, including preparation for or participation in any related civil or criminal legal proceeding, or to assist an individual related to the employee as described in (iii) in engaging in any of these activities.”

According to the DOL’s press release, “For American workers whose employers do not provide paid sick leave, taking time off to go to the doctor can mean missing out on wages or running the risk of getting fired.” The DOL’s Wage and Hour Division’s website includes information on the final rule such as a fact sheet, answers to frequently asked questions, a poster explaining EO 13706, and a video explaining the new rule.

The DOL had released its Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) to implement Executive Order 13706, Establishing Paid Sick Leave for Federal Contractors in February of 2016. We will cover EO 13706 and its obligations on federal contractors in depth on our Affirmative Action / OFCCP blog and our Government Contractors blog in the coming days.