Vermont Earned Sick Leave Act Commences January 1, 2017

Sick man in hospital

Vermont is joining a host of other states and cities who have passed paid sick leave laws over the past few years.  Vermont’s Earned Sick Leave Law will cover all employers in Vermont, regardless of size, by no later than January 1, 2018.  It is being implemented  in a two-phase approach as follows:

  • All employers with six or more employees are covered by the Vermont Earned Sick Leave Law beginning January 1, 2017.
  • All other employers will be covered by January 1, 2018.

Note that there are employees who are not eligible for the state’s Earned Sick Leave benefits.  The Act contains the details of exclusions, but some include:

  • Individuals employed for an average of less than 18 hours per week during a year
  • Individuals employed for less than 20 weeks in a 12 month period
  • Federal or state employees
  • Employees of healthcare facilities or school districts
  • Employees under the age of 18
  • Per diem workers

What Employers and Employees Need to Know?

 Accrual: Employees accrue one hour of earned sick leave for every 52 hours worked (including overtime hours.)  Accruals begin on January 1, 2017 for employers with 6 or more employees.  Accruals for all future new hires begin on their first day of work.

Use of Hours:  An employee can use up to 24 hours in 2017 and 2018 and up to 40 hours beginning in 2019 and thereafter.  Sick hours may be available as they are accrued or employers may impose a waiting period of up to one year after the January 1, 2017, implementation.

 Posting Requirement:  Employers are required to display a copy of the Vermont’s Earned Sick Leave Act Notice of Employee Rights poster in a conspicuous location where all employees will have access.  The poster is available as part of the Vermont All-in-One Complete Poster package which includes all state and federal posting requirements for employers in the state.

The Labor Law Center offers a worry-free service to our customers through our Poster Service Plan with automatic replacements.  What this means is that we monitor the state and federal postings and automatically send you updates when they are released.  It is that simple!

We also offer our clients our newly updated Education Center.  If you are new to labor law compliance or just wanting to keep up with the latest news and changes as they come out, this is the place to bookmark and visit regularly.

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