Across the country, new laws are requiring paid sick leave for more workers, but some employers are having a hard time keeping up.
In the past decade, 36 states, cities and municipalities have adopted new paid sick-time laws that are, or will soon be, in effect. This year alone, at least 10 new laws and ordinances have been passed in places including Vermont, Los Angeles, Chicago, Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minn., guaranteeing workers some paid time off for illness.
But the details of the rules differ on certain provisions, including which workers and their family members are covered and how much sick time they can accrue. And that is posing problems for some businesses, especially smaller ones, that employ workers in multiple cities and states, even if they support paid sick leave. As a result, human-resources departments—and the lawyers and consultants who advise them—are scrambling to make sure they comply.
