As noted in our recent post, absent extraordinary legislative action or prompt legal challenge, by August 1, 2019, most employers with employees working at least 80 hours a year in Dallas or San Antonio should be prepared to comply with paid sick leave ordinances.
The city of San Antonio recently released an eight-month implementation plan for its paid sick leave ordinance. The implementation plan (dubbed as a “listening tour”) will run through April 1, 2020, and will focus on educating employers and employees about the new paid sick and safe leave ordinance. The city will host six public meetings so that individuals can learn about the law and ask questions. Starting August 1, 2019, a team will begin investigating complaints in San Antonio as part of its efforts to educate employers. San Antonio’s Metro Health Department webpage offers an employer checklist, a sample paid sick leave policy, and a spreadsheet to help companies track employees paid sick time.
The city of Dallas has not yet announced an implementation plan, even though its ordinance is nearly identical to the San Antonio ordinance and shares the same fast-approaching effective date. The city of Dallas has confirmed that the director of the Office of Fair Housing and Human Rights is the “director of the department designated by the city manager to implement this ordinance,” and that the Office is creating informational materials and resources to assist with implementation. Any informational materials and resources will be posted on the city website.
Despite the effective date for the Dallas and San Antonio paid sick leave ordinances, civil penalties will not apply until April 1, 2020. But both the Dallas and San Antonio ordinances provide for civil penalties for retaliation as of August 1, 2019 (for most employers).
With the effective date quickly approaching, employers with employees in Dallas or San Antonio need to prepare. For more information on both the Dallas and San Antonio Municipal Ordinances, click here.
For guidance on leave management issues, please contact a Jackson Lewis attorney. Register here if you would like to receive information about our workthruIT® Leave & Accommodation Suite. The Leave & Accommodation Suite provides subscribers an expanding array of tools to manage leave and accommodation issues, including electronic access to a state and local leave law database that is developed and updated continually by our Disability, Leave & Health Management attorneys.
We thank summer clerks Rachael I. Thomson, in our Houston office, and Logan Collier Adams, in our Dallas office, for their assistance.