The City of Dallas FAQ Page
The above is a fuzzy map of the city limits of Dallas with zip codes – you get the point. The recently enacted Dallas Paid Sick Time Ordinance applies to the areas in green. Here is our previous discussion on the details of the ordinance. In a nutshell, employees who work work at least 80 hours a week in the geographic boundaries of Dallas are entitled to paid sick leave
Today, I took a look at the City of Dallas “Frequently Asked Questions” regarding the Dallas Paid Sick Time ordinance. Here some of the more obscure/interesting items that caught my attention:
- Employee has to be working in the geographical boundaries of the City of Dallas;
- Number of employees is determined by those that have done at least 80 hours of compensable work within the City of Dallas in the last 12 months – if the number of employees has varied use the highest number – part time employees are considered one employee;
- Enforcement of provision (except retaliation) with employers that have six or more employees begins April 1, 2020 – 5 or more August 1, 2021;
- There is a fairly lengthy discussion about how to properly front-load hours (employee has immediate access to sick time as opposed to accruing the hours over time);
- Employers must provide employees a monthly statement about the balance of their paid sick time hours;
- Records related to use of sick time hours must be maintained for 3 years;
- Employees must provide notice of FORESEEABLE sick time notices;
- Employees must be paid for sick time on the pay period for which the sick time was used;
- A terminated employee is not entitled to payment for unused sick leave;
- The ordinance will be enforced by the Office of Fair Housing and Human rights (no details as of yet); and
- A complaint can be filed on a complaint form but does not have to be.
From my perspective the enforcement details will be very interesting and raise a lot of questions. What type of investigation process will the Office of Fair Housing employ? Will it be similar to an EEOC investigation where the is a complaint filed by a response? What type of appeal process will there be of the Office of Fair Housing’s initial determination? The devil is always in the details. We’ll keep you posted on any developments.
