Milwaukee clinics will be affected by mandatory paid sick leave ordinance

City of Milwaukee voters passed a referendum on Election Day mandating that private-sector employees located within the boundaries of the City must be provided with paid sick leave. he ordinance is scheduled to take effect in early February 2009.

Under the ordinance, all employers must provide any person who is “employed within the geographic boundaries of the city” with one hour of paid sick leave for every 30 hours worked, not to exceed 72 hours (or nine days) per calendar year, unless the employer has fewer than 10 employees, in which case it is considered a “small business” and must provide 40 hours (or five days) of paid sick leave per calendar year. The ordinance expressly includes temporary and part-time employees. Employees are eligible to use their paid sick leave allotment after 90 days of employment. Paid sick leave must be compensated at the employee’s regular hourly rate of pay.

Paid sick leave may be used for an employee’s or family member of an employee’s mental or physical illness, injury or health condition; or need for medical diagnosis, care or treatment for such illness, injury or condition; or need for preventative medical care. It may also be used for an absence necessary due to domestic abuse, sexual assault or stalking. A “family member,” for purposes of the ordinance, includes: children, parents, spouses or domestic partners, grandparents, grandchildren, siblings, spouses of siblings, and other individuals “related by blood or affinity whose close association with the employee is the equivalent of a family relationship.”

An employer may not require “unreasonable documentation” or the “disclosure of information relating to the details of an employee’s medical condition” as a prerequisite of receiving paid sick leave. In addition, the ordinance is silent as to the point at which an employee is required to provide notice of an intent to use paid sick leave. Records documenting the paid sick leave must be retained for five years after the leave is taken. While there is no requirement to pay out accrued paid sick leave upon termination of employment, employees who are rehired within one year of termination regain their previously accrued sick leave. There are notice posting, anti-retaliation, and enforcement provisions in the ordinance, as well as a provision that states that no employer may treat paid sick leave as an absence that may lead to or result in any discipline or other adverse action.

The Metropolitan Milwaukee Association of Commerce has filed notice with the City of Milwaukee that it intends to challenge the ordinance in court. The City has up to 120 days to respond to the notice. After 120 days or when the City contests the claim, whichever occurs first, MMAC may sue the City in court, challenging the ordinance and asking that its effectiveness be delayed while the court case is pending.

Clinics with employees located within the City of Milwaukee should review their existing leave and attendance policies and revise them as necessary to comply with the ordinance, and should consult their attorneys for any legal advice necessary to make these revisions.