On Tuesday, two California Congressmen introduced a bill that would require employers to provide up to 5 paid sick days per year. The purpose of the bill, Emergency Influenza Containment Act (HR 3991) is:
To ensure that American workers are able to follow, without financial harm, the recommendations of their employer and public health authorities to stay home when they have symptoms of a contagious disease that may put co-workers, customers, or the public at risk.
Positioned as a temporary emergency law to help prevent the spread of H1N1 and other infectious diseases, the bill would be enacted 15 days after signing and sunset 2 years after the effective date.
There are a few things to consider with this bill that could potentially pose problems for employees and employers alike:
- First, the bill empowers employers to make decisions regarding “leave or stay or home” based on employee symptoms. Is this in violation/conflict of HIPAA laws?
- Second, the bill empowers employers to make decisions regarding “leave or stay home” based on assumptions about an employee’s possible exposure. Can an employer impose such decisions on an employee? For example, can an employer force an employee to stay home because their children are in a school district with several reported cases of H1N1?
- Finally, some states have laws that prohibit employers to force employees to take paid leave.
House Education and Labor Committee will hold hearings the week of November 16 and push for a full vote soon afterwards. And yes, the bill requires a notice to be posting (i.e. new labor law poster). As always, GovDocs is closely monitoring the situation.
