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If your organization does business in Portland, you may have recently received a mailer from the city regarding mandatory sick leave for employees. The mailer references the city’s new Protected Sick Time ordinance and administrative rules, which go into effect on Jan. 1.

The ordinance requires all private employers to accrue at least one hour of sick leave time to each employee for every 30 hours of work the employee performs in Portland, up to a maximum of 40 hours per year. Employers with five employees or fewer need not pay them for this time, but employers with six employees or more (counting all full-time, part-time, temporary and seasonal employees, even if they work outside the city or Oregon) must provide paid leave.

Employees who perform work in Portland are entitled to sick-leave time even if their employers are headquartered or located outside of Portland. For example, the following employees are entitled to accrue sick-leave time:

• Employees who regularly work within Portland city limits;

• Employees who travel to Portland and make a stop or a pickup or a delivery or perform any work in Portland (these persons accrue time for all hours that they perform work in Portland); and

• Employees who telecommute while physically present in Portland.

The city has provided an online map tool that employers may use to determine whether a location falls within city boundaries. Employees who merely travel through Portland without stopping, or who make incidental stops in Portland to purchase gas, eat a meal or change a flat tire do not accrue sick leave for that time.

Employees with accrued Portland sick leave may not use that time until they: have worked at least 240 hours in Portland; have been employed for at least 90 calendar days; plan to use the time when they are scheduled to work in Portland; and have a qualifying reason. Portland sick leave is available:

• To seek diagnosis, care or treatment of the employee or the employee’s family member’s mental or physical illness, injury or health condition. This includes routine medical and dental visits;

• To seek legal assistance, medical treatment, counseling and other services related to domestic violence, harassment, sexual assault or stalking;

• In the event the employee’s work or the employee’s child’s school or day care is closed by a public official due to a public health emergency;

• To care for the employee’s family member whose presence in the community jeopardizes the health of others; or

• If the employer is required by law to exclude the employee from the workplace for health reasons.

Sick-leave time may be used in increments of one hour, and employees who meet the eligibility requirements are entitled to use sick leave as soon as it is accrued, even if that occurs in the middle of a pay period. Employees may also carry over up to 40 hours of unused sick leave time from one year to the next, but may not take more than 40 hours of sick-leave time per year without employer approval.

The Portland sick-leave ordinance also includes notification requirements. Employers must notify employees of their protected sick-leave rights in three different ways:

1. Display a poster of the new law in each building and at each worksite;

2. Provide individual notices in writing to current employees by the end of the first pay period in 2014. For new employees, the individual notices must be given by the end of the new employee’s first pay period; and

3. Provide a written notice to each employee on at least a quarterly basis regarding the amount of accrued and unused sick time that is available for use by the employee.

These notices must be provided in English and, if applicable, any other language the employer normally uses to communicate with employees. The city has made model posters and individual notices (in English and Spanish) available online.

The city has also promulgated detailed rules regarding adopting or modifying sick leave policies, monitoring and calculating sick-leave accrual and use, and maintaining sick-leave records. These rules will require most employers to take some action right away. At a minimum, employers should prepare to distribute and post the new sick-leave notices, and review and update their existing sick-leave policies. Failure to do so could result in noncompliance and civil penalties payable to both the city of Portland and to the employee directly. Employers that have individual compliance questions should consult with employment law counsel.

Heidi Mason is an attorney in Jordan Ramis PC’s labor and employment law practice group. Contact her at 503-598-5504 or at [email protected].