Tracking and Reporting on the New Policy Regarding Massachusetts Sick Time

Tracking and Reporting the New Policy Regarding Massachusetts Sick Time

In November 2014, Massachusetts voters approved a ballot question to require all employers in the Commonwealth to provide up to forty hours of earned sick time annually for all employees. Harvard has created a policy for these new regulations and crafted an interim solution. The Administrative & Professional Staff Personnel Manual has been updated (see Earned Sick Time) to reflect this new benefit for temps and LHTs. A job aid with more detail is available in Eureka.

Policy Summary:

• As of July 1, 2015, Less Than Half Time (LHT) and Temporary Employees, including Co-op Student Employees and Paid Interns, will accrue one hour of earned sick time for every 30 hours worked (Time Reporting Codes REG or OTP). Up to a maximum accrual of 40 hours of earned sick time can accrue each fiscal year (July 1 – June 30).
• Employees may begin to use earned sick time once they have been employed for 90 days.
• Those who have been employed for at least 90 days as of July 1, 2015 may use earned sick time as it accrues.
• Once the maximum accrual of 40 hours for the fiscal year is reached, the employee will not begin accruing again until the next fiscal year.
• Accrued earned sick time that is not used is “banked” for use in the next fiscal year, and the employee can accrue an additional maximum of 40 hours for the second FY. The maximum total amount of sick time that an employee can have over a 2-year period is 80 hours.
• The minimum sick duration reporting amount is 1 hour. Absences greater than 1 hour should follow normal PeopleSoft reporting rules of .25 = 15 minutes (e.g., 1½ hours is equal to 1.50)
• Temp time reporters should use the time reporting code SMA – Sick Massachusetts when reporting sick time. If using a paper timesheet, employees should write in Sick Massachusetts.

Tracking Hours: Time Administrators

A temporary report has been created to help track sick time for employees who are not enrolled in Absence Management but are eligible for sick time in compliance with the new MA Sick Law Policy.  A permanent solution that will replace this is targeted for January 2016.

A temporary report will be emailed to Time Administrators on a monthly basis, at the end of the month starting on Wednesday 8/26/2015. This report will reflect reported time processed through the pay end date of the last confirmed payroll.  It will include employees in a status of Active, Leave of Absence, and Paid Leave of Absence who have reached their 90 days of service AND have accrued at least one hour of sick time. The report will be grouped by Time and Labor Group and will include fields for Worked Hours, Accrued Sick Time, Sick Time Taken, and Sick Time Balance.

• Terminated employees will fall off of the report.
• An on-demand report, currently under development, will include terminated employees.
• If a Temp or LHT is in the system for 90 days (but didn’t work all 90 days), they are still eligible to take the accrued sick time.

Below is a sample of the grid contained in the email:

These totals for Worked Hours, Accrued Sick Time, Sick Time Taken, and Sick Time Balance are updated via Payroll Processing, and not through the absence Take Cycle or monthly accrual processes. For example, the first report will be sent Wednesday, 8/26/15 and will reflect reported time as of the confirmed payroll of 8/22/15. 

Upon receipt of this e-mail, time administrators should contact the employees (by e-mail or phone) to notify them of their eligibility for using earned sick time along with providing the current accrual balance. The following instructions should also be provided:

1. Employees must notify their supervisor 7 days prior to a planned absence (e.g., medical appointments.)
   1. For an unforeseen absence they should provide as much notice to their supervisor as reasonable under the circumstances.
2. When entering the sick time in PeopleSoft, use the new time reporting code SMA – Sick Massachusetts.

For any questions about the emailed report, please contact the PACT team at PS_PY_SUPPORT@harvard.edu.

For any questions about the Policy, please contact Labor and Employee Relations at 617-495-2786.