The Montgomery County Council voted on Tuesday, June 23 to mandate one of the most overreaching paid leave laws in the country. The new mandate passed unanimously after council members debated and voted on around a dozen amendments. The end result requires that all employers in the county provide paid time off to employees.
What you need to know:
- The law will go into effect on October 1, 2016
- The law will require employers of fewer than five employees to provide up to four days of paid leave and three days of unpaid leave
- Employers with over five employees are required to allow employees to accrue paid time off at the rate of at least one hour for every 30 hours an employee works in the county, up to 56 hours of paid leave in a calendar year.
- Under the law, leave can also be used for a wide variety of purposes beyond taking a day off for a worker’s own illness: to care for a sick family member, to deal with a public health emergency, or to deal with domestic violence, sexual assault, or stalking.
- The law will not affect full-time workers who already receive at least 56 hours of paid leave of any kind.
History
The Montgomery County Council will be voting on mandating paid leave on
Tuesday June 23. It’s important that you contact the members of the
Council and ask them to vote against this measure.
The measure resembles mandatory paid leave legislation that was
considered earlier this year by the Maryland General Assembly that
failed to pass after it received strong opposition from the business
community.
The Montgomery County measure will:
- mandate that employers offer one hour of paid leave for every 30 hours worked.
- allow employees to take up to 80 hours of paid time off each year
- allow employees to carry over up to 56 hours of unused time off from one calendar year to the next
The council’s Health and Human Services Committee debated the measure
on June 11, raising many concerns about the impact of the measure on
small businesses and employees.
Please take action today by contacting Council members:
CLICK HERE to find your Council Member
CLICK HERE to find Council Members’ email addresses and contact information
Call the members of the Council:
Roger Berliner 240-777-7828
Marc Elrich 240-777-7966
Nancy Floreen 240-777-7959
Tom Hucker 240-777-7960
Sidney Katz 240-777-7906
George Leventhal 240-777-7811
Nancy Navarro 240-777-7968
Craig Rice 240-777-7955
Hans Riemer 240-777-7964
