Eugene, OR has officially entered the paid sick leave arena. Under legislation enacted on July 28, 2014 and effective July 1, 2015 most employers operating a business within the city limits must begin accruing paid sick leave for all employees working within the city. Exceptions to the law include state, city (other the Eugene) and federal government employees and employers in the building and construction industry whose employees are covered under a collective bargaining unit or agreement.
All employees include part-time, temporary and telecommuting (if physically located within the city). They must earn a minimum of one hour of sick leave for every 30 hours of paid work performed within the city up to a maximum of 40 hours of sick leave in a year. Employees begin accruing leave on July 1, 2015 or the start of their employment, which ever is later. But they must be employed by the employer for 90 days to become eligible to begin using the accrued sick time. Unused sick leave must carry over to the next year. Employees may be limited to use no more than 40 hours per year of sick leave.
The city will be offering training sessions on the new law through the state Bureau of Labor & Industry starting in April.