Title
AN ACT CONCERNING EARNED SICK AND SAFE LEAVE for the purpose of requiring certain employers in the County to provide earned sick and safe leave to certain employees working in the County due to domestic violence, sexual assault, or stalking; provide enforcement by the Human Relations Commission; and generally regulating the sick and safe leave benefits provided to an employee working in the County for certain employers.
Background
The Maryland General Assembly has introduced earned sick and safe leave legislation during prior sessions from 2013 to 2015. The Council adopted CR-52-2015 on October 20, 2015 to endorse the enactment of a Statewide Paid Sick and Safe Leave Law in the 2016 General Assembly session; however, the earned sick and safe leave legislation introduced during the 2016 session, HB 580, did not pass as well. During the 2017 Maryland General Assembly session HB 1 - Labor and Employment - Maryland Healthy Working Families Act passed both the House and Senate. HB 1 required an employer with 15 or more employees to have a sick and safe leave policy under which an employee earns at least one hour of paid sick and safe leave, at the same rate as the employee normally earns, for every 30 hours an employee works. However, the bill was vetoed by the Governor on May 25, 2017. The proposed legislation would require an employer operating and doing business in the County to provide earned sick and safe leave to each employee for work performed in the County. Earned sick and safe leave is paid leave away from work that can be used due to domestic violence, sexual assault, or stalking committed against the employee or the employee's family member. An employer could provide paid time off that can be used by the employee for any purpose to satisfy the earned sick and safe leave requirement of the bill. The bill would require an employer to provide earned sick and safe leave at a rate of at least one (1) hour for every thirty (30) hours an employee ...
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