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Maine Sick Pay

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Can a Maine employer who has offered paid sick leave in the past, suddenly withdraw it?

There are a few states that have passed laws requiring companies to give their workers 7 to 10 days’ notice when they change policies regarding pay or benefits. Sick pay is such a benefit.

About a dozen states in the U.S. mandate that companies pay workers who have been terminated for their accumulated vacation time. None of them, however, require the same for accrued vacation time. Not even California, with the strongest labor laws in the nation, has declared workers entitled to accrued paid sick leave time when they are terminated.

No state, including Maine, has a law requiring sick pay. There is no federal law either. It is entirely the employer’s option whether or not to offer sick pay benefits.

The purpose of paid sick time is to guarantee an income for workers who are truly and legitimately too sick to work. Companies offer it with the knowledge that not all employees will use all their sick leave every year. Some workers, however, assume they are owed and entitled to sick time. Some will use it as added vacation time. Some will use it as a “mental health day” when they need a break.

As a result, some companies are changing over to what is called “PTO,” or Paid Time Off, which replaces both sick time and vacation time. It eliminates the need for pretense when taking time off.

It may not be permissible to cancel a paid sick leave policy if that policy has been specifically made part of a union contract.

Some companies will cancel sick leave without notice to avoid paying workers who decide merely to “use it up” when they get advance warning. If workers are, for example, told, “In 3 months you will lose your 5 paid sick leave days,” it is likely that many workers would suddenly become “ill” and use their 5 days before the 3 months were up.

Any worker who became genuinely ill and was taking paid sick leave while the policy changed would probably receive his or her sick pay. JH