Discuss Employee Sick and Safe Time 

The purpose of this discussion is to update the City Council on a new law that will be effective January 1, 2024 called Earned Sick and Safe Time (ESST)  and to receive feedback from the City Council regarding whether or not to keep the City's current sick leave policy (more restricted than ESST) as is, or to expand it to the new eligibility as defined under Minnesota's earned sick and safe time law. 

Background:
Effective January 1, 2024, sick and safe time is paid leave employers must provide to employees in Minnesota that can be used for certain reasons, including when an employee is sick, to care for a sick family member or to seek assistance if an employee or their family member has experienced domestic abuse.  

The new law  requires employers to provide paid leave to employees who work in the state. An employee is anyone who works at least 80 hours in a year for an employer in Minnesota, but does not include independent contractors. Temporary and part-time employees are covered under the law. 

Currently, the City does not provide paid sick time for temporary employees, paid-on-call firefighters, election judges, or the City Council. Staff is closely watching to receive updates regarding these somewhat unusual roles being included in the law.  To-date, new information has not been proposed. Staff is meeting with the League of Minnesota Cities on Monday to receive additional feedback and advice on this issue and the overall ESST administration.  Several area cities have shared information on how they plan to administer the new law.  Staff will share this information with the City Council during the meeting. 

Most importantly:
Staff are not proposing additional sick leave over and above the current policy. Essentially, staff is looking for the City Council's feedback specific to the 48 hours not covered by ESST. The administration of having two separate accruals will be labor intensive and will require an agreement with the unions. There are pros and cons to either approach; Finance Director Lund will provide details on this matter. 

The new law states employees can use their earned sick and safe time for reasons such as:
    (Note:  Bold font  items are NOT in the City's current policy)

• the employee’s mental or physical illness, treatment or preventive care;
• a family member’s mental or physical illness, treatment or preventive care; (dependent on Ramsey's current policy definition of family)
• absence due to domestic abuse, sexual assault or stalking of the employee or a family member; (dependent on Ramsey's current policy definition of family)
• closure of the employee’s workplace due to weather or public emergency or closure of a family member’s school or care facility due to weather or public emergency; and
• when determined by a health authority or health care professional that the employee or family member is at risk of infecting others with a communicable disease. (dependent on Ramsey's current policy definition of family)

Employees may use earned sick and safe time for their following family members:
(Note:  Bold font  items are NOT in the City's current policy)

1. their child, including foster child, adult child, legal ward, child for whom the employee is legal guardian or child to whom the employee stands or stood in loco parentis (in place of a parent); 
2. their spouse or registered domestic partner;
3. their sibling, stepsibling or foster sibling;
4. their biological, adoptive or foster parent, stepparent or a person who stood in loco parentis (in place of a parent) when the employee was a minor child;
5. their grandchild, foster grandchild or step-grandchild;
6. their grandparent or step-grandparent;
         (Above 1-6:  If an employee states their child or sibling or parent or grandchild or grandparent are ill, Ramsey supervisors do not question the specifics unless it is necessary)

7. a child of a sibling of the employee;
8. a sibling of the parents of the employee;
9. a child-in-law or sibling-in-law;
10. any of the family members listed in 1 through 9 above of an employee’s spouse or registered domestic partner; (dependent on Ramsey's current policy definition of family)
11. any other individual related by blood or whose close association with the employee is the equivalent of a family relationship; and
12. up to one individual annually designated by the employee.

The City's current sick leave policy is contained within the Personnel Policy and all of the union contracts.  The full policy is attached.   Current eligibility for claiming sick time is as follows:  

Sick leave may be authorized when an employee is unable to perform work duties due to illness, disability, the necessity for medical, dental, or chiropractic care, childbirth, or exposure to contagious disease where such exposure may endanger the health of others with whom the employee would come in contact in the course of performing work duties.   Sick leave may also be authorized when the employee’s presence is necessary, due to an illness of or injury to the employee's:

1. child,
2. adult child,
3. spouse,
4. sibling,
5. parent,
6. mother-in-law,
7. father-in-law,
8. grandchild,
9. grandparent, or stepparent

or for any purpose authorized by law, including, but not limited to, Minnesota Statutes, section 181.9413 (as amended).  For additional information as to when sick leave may be utilized, employees should contact Human Resources.

Current sick leave accrual is as follows:

Every probationary and regular employee is entitled to earn sick leave with pay at the rate of 1 day (based on an 8-hour day) for each calendar month of full-time service or major fraction thereof.  Sick leave may be accrued to 120 days (960 hours); unused sick leave in excess of 120 days (960 hours) at the end of a calendar year (December 31st) shall be converted to vacation at a rate of one hour of vacation for each two hours of sick leave, subject to the maximum amount of accrued vacation leave provided in this policy.  All hours in excess of 960, as defined in section 4.8 non-union post-employment healthcare savings plan, will be applied per the applicable agreement.   Regular part-time employees are eligible to earn sick leave in proportion to that earned by regular full-time employees based on the number of hours worked. Sick leave will count toward total budgeted work hours for the year. 

The new laws states that employers must provide each employee in Minnesota with one hour of ESST for every 30 hours worked, with the ability to accumulate at least 48 hours of ESST each year. An employer's existing leave policy, may already meet Minnesota's ESST requirements.  The City of Ramsey's policy meets the accrual requirement, with the exception of the newly expanded group of employees (temps, election judges, firefighters, etc.).

There are several methods to administer the new law including options for Earning hours:  Accrual, front loading and carryovers:  The City of Ramsey recommends the accrual method.

1. employees begin accruing ESST from their first day of employment;
2. ESST accrues at a rate of at least one hour for every 30 hours worked;
3.  employees are permitted to accrue a minimum of up to 48 hours of ESST in a year (more if the employer agrees to a higher amount); and
4. employees can carry over unused ESST into the next year. However, at no time can an employee’s accrued ESST exceed 80 hours (unless the employer agrees to a higher amount).

Important Frequently Asked Questions (see attachment for more detail):

Can an employer put a cap on how many ESST hours an employee can accrue?  Yes, employers may set a cap or limit on each employee’s ESST accrual. Employers must allow each employee to accrue up to at least 48 hours a year, carried over from year to year, until an 80-hour maximum accrual is reached. These limits of 48 hours each year and a maximum accrual of 80 hours for each employee may be higher if an employer agrees, but not lower.

Do unused ESST hours carry over from year to year?  Yes, employers must carry over each employee’s accrued and unused ESST hours to the following year unless the employer chooses to front load ESST hours in accordance with the options provided in the ESST law listed below. Total accruals including carryover amounts may be capped at 80 hours of ESST.

Are ESST hours restored if an employee returns to work for a former employer?   An employee who returns to work for the same employer within 180 days of separation is entitled to the ESST hours accrued before leaving the employer.

Do sick and safe time hours accrue on overtime hours worked?  ESST hours accrue on all hours worked, including overtime hours, unless the employee is exempt from earning overtime compensation under exemptions for professional, administrative and executive employees.

There are several attachments to this case.

 

Not applicable at this time.

Colleen Lasher, Administrative Services Director
Diana Lund, Finance Director
Brian Hagen, City Administrator 

To direct staff to revise the current sick leave policy, specific to the 48 hours of sick time not included in the 96 hours of sick leave accrued per year. Or, to leave the current policy as is.