HF19 Summary

• Establishes earned sick and safe time requirements effective January 1, 2024, requiring employers to provide a minimum of 1 hour per 30 hours worked, up to 48 hours per year, which employees may use for illness, medical care, domestic abuse, sexual assault, stalking, or public emergencies.

• Employees may carry over unused accrued sick and safe time to the following year with a maximum cap of 80 hours unless the employer pays out unused time or provides 80 hours upfront each year.

• Prohibits employer retaliation for requesting or using earned sick and safe time, requires written notice policies, and permits reasonable documentation requests only after three consecutive days of use.

• Increases civil penalties for employer violations from $1,000 to $10,000 per failure to submit records and up to $10,000 per repeated willful violation, and extends private right of action for employees to recover damages.

• Appropriates $2.2 million for fiscal year 2025 to the Commissioner of Labor and Industry for enforcement, $300,000 for grants to community organizations, and $494,000 to the Supreme Court for a new district court judge in the Ninth Judicial District.