Dallas begins paid sick leave enforcement

Dallas, Texas – Starting April 1, 2020, Dallas will enforce the ordinance for employers with six or more employees. No part of the ordinance goes into effect for employers with five or fewer employees until August 1, 2021. The City of Dallas’ Earned Paid Sick Time (Paid Sick Leave) Ordinance was adopted by City Council on April 24, 2019, and went into effect on August 1, 2019.

Employers in Dallas city limits  must provide paid sick time for employees who work at least 80 hours of compensable work within the last 12 months. Earned paid sick time is paid time off work for:

• An employee’s physical or mental illness, physical injury, preventative medical or health care, or health condition.
• An employee’s need to care for a family member’s physical or mental illness, physical injury, preventative medical or health care, or health condition.
• An employee’s or family member’s need to seek medical attention, seek relocation, obtain services of victim services organization, participate in legal or court-ordered action related to an incident of victimization from domestic abuse, sexual assault, or stalking.

Employees earn 1 hour of earned paid sick time for every 30 hours worked in the City of Dallas, up to 48 hours for employers with 15 or fewer employees and 64 hours for employers with 16 or more employees.

An employer may not transfer, demote, discharge, suspend, reduce hours, or directly threaten such actions against an employee because that employee requests or uses earned paid sick time.

The City of Dallas has created employer posters, information sessions, rules and regulations, FAQs, and an employer checklist. You can find those tools at www.dallascityhall.com/paid-sick-leave. Be sure to check the page for updates regularly.