On May 8, 2017, the governor of Georgia Nathan, Nathan Deal, the Family Care Act, signed a new law according to which certain employers have to use their employees up to five days of their available illness vacation in order to look after directly family members. This new law comes into force on July 1, 2017. What follows are some important questions and answers to the requirements of family care as well as a number of important takeways for employers.
Q: When does the law come into force?
A: This new law will come into force on July 1, 2017.
Q: Which employers are covered?
A: The new law applies to employers with 25 or more employees as well as to employees of the state government. It is important that the law only applies to employers who offer the health vacation already paid in addition to short -term or long -term disability plans.
Q: Which employees are covered?
A: Employees who work for salaries, wages or other remuneration at least 30 hours a week can use illness vacation to look after an immediate family member.
Q: Do employers have to be obliged to provide paid services for illness vacation?
A: No. In contrast to other states with paid disease vacation laws, the law of Georgia does not oblige employers to provide disease days. The law only requires that an employer who already provides employees with a paid health vacation is also obliged to use the employee to use their vacation allowance for the care of immediate family members.
Q: How much paid time is required?
A: Complicated employers must allow authorized workers to use up to five days paid for the care of an immediate family member. This only applies again if the employer already has a guideline for the paid health vacation. The law expressly stipulates that an employer is not obliged that an employee is used more than five days earned by the illness per calendar year to maintain an immediate family member.
Q: When can an employee use the vacation?
A: The law only entitles an employee to use illness vacation until this vacation was earned, and an employee who wants to use such a health vacation must comply with the conditions of the employer's health vacation directive.
Q: Who is a “immediate family member”?
A: The law defines “immediate family member” as “child, spouse, grandchild, grandparent or parent of an employee, as shown in the recent tax return of the employee”.
Q: How does this affect the obligations of an employer as part of the law on family and medical holidays (FMLA)?
A: Georgia employer, who are also taken over by the FMLA, must continue to offer unpaid FMLA leave of absence from the federal government for authorized workers. How this new law and the FMLA will interact remains to be seen, but employers should be aware of the potential interaction between these two statutes and find out about all the associated progress.
Q: What are the enforcement provisions of the law?
A: The new law does not contain any enforcement or punishment. The law is therefore more bark than bite. In fact, the law expressly indicates that it must not be interpreted to create a new legal ground against an employer.
However, this does not mean that employers can ignore the law on family care. Employers should consider taking positive steps to ensure that a paid disease vacation plan corresponds to this law and ensure that all staff and management employees understand their effects.
Q: Are there any special rules for employers who offer employee shares?
A: The Georgia's law contains a unique and somewhat puzzling liberation. Every employer who offers employees an employee -stock ownership plan is freed from the law. Although numerous states have laws that allow this type of illness, this seems to be the only liberation of its kind.
Key Takeaways
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If an employer does not indicate a paid health vacation, no measures are required.
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If an employer has a “reason” directive for illness vacation, such a directive already corresponds to the new law.
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Covered employers with guidelines that provide paid time outside of work that can only be used for health -related reasons (except for short -term and long -term disability guidelines), these guidelines should check and consider it to revise to comply with the new law of Georgia to ensure.
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Muted employees with guidelines that enable employees to use paid time for their own illnesses or injuries must be willing to revise their guidelines in order to comply with the new law.
Ultimately, the Georgia's Family Care Act is part of a nationwide trend to encourage employers to enable employees to use illness vacation to take care of their immediate family members. Employers should carefully check their paid time sacrifice guidelines on compliance with compliance, which management staff train in the new requirements and determine how the new law can raise questions related to the FMLA.
