(a) An employee may use earned sick and safe leave:
(1) to care for or treat the employee’s mental or physical illness, injury, or condition;
(2) to obtain preventive medical care for the employee or the employee’s family member;
(3) to care for a family member with a mental or physical illness, injury, or condition;
(4) if the employer’s place of business has closed by order of a public official due to a public health emergency;
(5) if the school or child care center for the employee’s family member is closed by order of a public official due to a public health emergency;
(6) to care for a family member if a health official or health care provider has determined that the family member’s presence in the community would jeopardize the health of others because of the family member’s exposure to a communicable disease;
(7) for the birth of a child, or for the placement of a child with the employee for adoption or foster care;
(8) to care for a newborn, newly adopted, or newly placed child within one year of birth, adoption, or placement; or
(9) if the absence from work is due to domestic violence, sexual assault, or stalking committed against the employee or the employee’s family member and the leave is used:
(A) by the employee to obtain for the employee or the employee’s family;
(i) medical attention needed to recover from a physical or psychological injury due to domestic violence, sexual assault, or stalking;
(ii) services from a victim services organization related to the domestic violence, sexual assault, or stalking; or
(iii) legal services, including preparing for or participating in a civil or criminal proceeding related to the domestic violence, sexual assault, or stalking; or
(B) during the time that the employee has temporarily relocated due to the domestic violence, sexual assault, or stalking.
(b) To use earned sick and safe leave, an employee must:
(1) request leave from the employer as soon as practicable after the employee determines that the employee needs to take leave;
(2) notify the employer of the anticipated duration of the leave; and
(3) comply with any reasonable procedures established by the employer when requesting and taking leave.
(c) An employer must not require an employee who requests earned sick and safe leave to search for or find an individual to take the employee’s place while the employee takes leave.
(d) An employer must not require an employee to:
(1) disclose specific details of the mental or physical illness, injury, or condition of the employee or the employee’s family member; or
(2) provide as certification any information that would violate the Federal Social Security Act or the Federal Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act.
(e) By mutual consent of the employee and the employer, the employee may work additional hours or trade shifts with another employee during a pay period to make up the amount of work hours that the employee missed for which the employee could have used earned sick and safe leave.
(f) An employee may take earned sick and safe leave in the smallest increment that the employer’s payroll system uses to account for absences or work time, except that an employee must not be required to take earned sick and safe leave in an increment of more than 4 hours.
(g) An employer must provide an employee with a written statement of available earned sick and safe leave each time the employer pays wages to the employee. An employer may satisfy this requirement through an online system where the employee can access their own earned sick and safe leave balances.
(h) An employer may require an employee who uses more than 3 consecutive days of earned sick and safe leave to provide reasonable documentation to verify that the leave was used appropriately. (2015 L.M.C., ch. 29, § 1; 2016 L.M.C., ch. 31, §1.)