ROCKVILLE, Md. (WUSA9) -- Tuesday, Montgomery County council members voted unanimously (9-0) in favor of a bill that requires employers to give full-time employees seven paid sick days.
The Earned Sick and Safe Leave Bill requires employers to provide a minimum of one-hour paid time off for every 30 hours worked. Employers with fewer than five workers would have to offer seven sick days. Of those, four days would be paid and three days would be unpaid.
The bill brings paid sick days to nearly 100,000 county residents.
The bill also:
• Affords employees "safe time" to take paid leave to obtain medical attention, victims services, counseling, relocation or legal services as a result of domestic violence, sexual assault or stalking
• Permits employers with existing paid leave standards to maintain those policies as long as they comply with the minimum requirements of the Act
Melissa Broom of the Working Matters Coalition says the passage of the bill makes the county the 24th jurisdiction in the United States to require paid sick leave, reports the Associated Press.
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