Effective January 1, 2017, Executive Order 13706 requires employers that enter into new covered contracts with the Federal Government to provide employees with up to seven days or 56 hours of paid sick leave annually. The Order requires new contracts or subcontracts to specify that as a condition of payment, all employees in the performance of the contract must earn no less than one hour of paid sick leave for every 30 hours worked. Paid sick leave under the Order is in addition to a contractor’s obligations under the Service Contract Act or Davis-Bacon Act, and contractors may not receive credit toward the prevailing wage or fringe benefit obligations for any paid sick leave.
Unlike California’s sick leave law (Healthy Workplaces, Healthy Families Act of 2014), the Order permits employees to use sick leave for a child (including a domestic partner’s child who is not the child of the employee), a non-registered domestic partner, or any other individual related by blood or affinity whose close association with the employee is the equivalent of a family relationship. An existing paid sick leave policy may satisfy the Order if it satisfies the accrual requirements and may be used for the same purposes and under the same conditions. Employers should seek advice of counsel to determine which contracts or employees are covered and which are not. The Order may change given the new presidency.
See also: Calculating Paid Sick Leave for Commissioned and Exempt Employees