Pittsburgh and Allegheny County Paid Sick Leave Mandates: What Employers Need to Know

by Tyler Foster | Aug 7, 2024 | Employer Liability Prevention, Employment Law -- Employer

I. Introduction

On March 15, 2020, the City of Pittsburgh’s Paid Sick Days Act officially went into effect, mandating employers to provide paid sick time to employees who work at least 35 hours within city limits in a calendar year. Allegheny County’s similar mandate, the Allegheny County Sick Leave Ordinance, effective December 15, 2021, likewise requires employers of 26 or more to provide paid seek time to employees who work at least 35 hours within the County in a calendar year.

Though these mandates have been in effect for years, earlier this year, the City of Pittsburgh announced that it would begin to “strictly enforce” the Paid Sick Days Act, including compliance investigations.

II. Overview of the Pittsburgh Paid Sick Days Act

Under the Pittsburgh Paid Sick Days Act, all employers, regardless of size, must provide employees with one hour of paid sick leave for every 35 hours worked in Pittsburgh. Employers with 15 or more employees must allow for the accrual of 40 hours of paid sick leave per calendar year. For employers with less than 15 employees, accrual caps at 24 hours per year. Unless the employer opts to provide all paid sick leave at the beginning of the year, any unused time must roll over to the following year.

The requirements apply to all full-time and part-time employees who work 35 hours or more within the City of Pittsburgh, except for members of a construction union covered by a collective bargaining agreement, seasonal employees who are notified in writing upon hire that they will work no more than 16 weeks during the calendar year, and independent contractors. Employees employed outside of the Pittsburgh, but travel to and perform work within the city are covered by the Act – travel time within the city counts as hours worked.

For purposes of determining accrual caps, employers must count all employees, except owners, regardless of whether the employee is covered by the Act. If the number of employees varies over the year, the highest number of employees employed at any one time must be used.

Employees must be permitted to use the sick leave, not only for the employee’s own illness or need for medical care, but also for a family member’s illness or need for medical care; closure of an employer’s workplace due to a public heath emergency; childcare, if the child’s school or place of care is closed due to a public health emergency; and a need to care for a family member, if the family member’s condition puts community health at risk.

Employers must provide written notice, as well as post at every worksite employees’ entitlement to paid sick leave, the amount to which they are entitled, acceptable uses, a guarantee against retaliation, and the right to file a complaint for noncompliance.

III. Overview of the Allegheny County Sick Leave Ordinance

The Allegheny County Sick Leave Ordinance essentially mirrors the Pittsburgh Paid Sick Days Act. However, the Ordinance is only applicable to employers with 26 or more employees. The ordinance requires such employers to provide one hour of paid sick leave to employees for every 35 hours worked in Allegheny County – accrual is capped at 40 hours per calendar year. All other Ordinance provisions and requirements remain as discussed in the above overview of the Pittsburgh Paid Sick Days Act.

IV. Compliance Strategies for Employers

Regardless of an employer’s primary place of business, if they have employees who work within the City of Pittsburgh and/or Allegheny County, the mandates are applicable. This includes employers that have employees who work from home in the in the city or county.

Although these mandates have been in effect for several years, given the city’s recent indication of strict enforcement, now would be the perfect opportunity to verify compliance. To do so, employers should review all existing sick leave policies to ensure they meet minimum requirements and if not, revise the same; ensure that such policies are strictly followed; and visit all worksites to ensure proper notice is posted.

Employers of unionized construction employees should also review their sick leave polices to ensure that only non-unionized employees are covered. Moreover, employers who do not provide paid sick leave to seasonal workers must ensure that these workers are provided with written notice on the date of hire that they will work no more than 16 weeks during the calendar year, otherwise, they must be provided with paid sick leave in compliance with the mandates.

V. How Hardin Thompson Can Help

If you are unsure your business’ compliance with these mandates, we would be happy to ensure compliance by reviewing and revising existing company polices and/or drafting brand new policies.