7 Day Sick Leave Bill

On Monday, October 13 Subcommittee B of the WV Joint Judiciary Committee will be meeting to discuss the 7 Day Sick Leave Bill. As a refresher, this bill would require employers with 15 or more employees to pay paid sick leave. Employees that work 30 or more hours per week would get 7 days, employees that work less would get a pro-rated share. Sick leave would roll over from year to year, though most versions of the proposal would not permit an employee to take more than 7 days in any one year. Employers cannot ask for certification for the leave until the employee misses three consecutive days of work. Leave can also be on an intermittent basis in increments as small as your payroll system (tenths of an hour). The concept of a paid time off system would likely be eliminated because it does not track sick days and employees would have an absolute right to the sick leave. Violations of the sick leave bill under last year’s proposal would subject the employer to criminal sanctions (fines) and the full gambit of litigation – retaliation, interference, violation of substantial public policy, and so forth are expressly permitted. You may not count the sick leave as part of a no-fault attendance policy. And, once passed you cannot modify your sick leave policies to best address the issue, you can only add days to bring you into compliance.

Below are the members of Subcommittee B. Please feel free to write, call or email them prior to Oct 13 and let them know how you feel about this proposed legislation. Almost every state where this bill has been proposed has rejected it as a threat to its economy. Ohio was the most recent. I will be attending the session on the 13th and will report back to you how it went.

The members of subcommittee B of the Joint Judiciary are (note: not all of these people will be returning after the election):

Senate: House:

Michael Oliverio, Chair Marshall Long, Chair

Randy White, Vice-chair Carrie Webster - ex-officio

Jeff Kessler ex-officio Barbara Fleischauer

Evan Jenkins Nancy Guthrie

Joseph Minard Linda Longstreth

Erik Wells Robert Tabb

Clark Barnes Tom Azinger

Andy McKenzie Patrick Lane

John Yoder Kelly Sobonya