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| To enact sections 4114.00 to 4114.11 of the Revised | 1 |
| Code to enact the Healthy Families Act. | 2 |
| Section 1. That sections 4114.00, 4114.01, 4114.02, 4114.03, | 3 |
| 4114.04, 4114.05, 4114.06, 4114.07, 4114.08, 4114.09, 4114.10, and | 4 |
| 4114.11 of the Revised Code be enacted to read as follows: | 5 |
| Sec. 4114.00. Chapter 4114. of the Revised Code is the | 6 |
| Healthy Families Act. | 7 |
| Sec. 4114.01. Definitions | 8 |
| (A) "Child" means a biological, foster, or adopted child, a | 9 |
| stepchild, a legal ward, or a child of a person standing in loco | 10 |
| parentis, who is: | 11 |
| (1) Under 18 years of age; or | 12 |
| (2) 18 years of age or older and incapable of self-care due | 13 |
| to a physical or mental disability. | 14 |
| (B) "Employee" and "employer" have the same definitions as | 15 |
| those found in Article II, Section 34a of the Ohio Constitution, | 16 |
| except that "employer" shall not include an employer who employs | 17 |
| less than 25 employees. | 18 |
| (C) "Health Care Professional" means any person licensed | 19 |
| under federal or state law to provide health care services, | 20 |
| including, but not limited to, nurses, doctors, and emergency room | 21 |
| personnel. | 22 |
| (D) "Parent" is defined as a biological, foster, or adoptive | 23 |
| parent, a stepparent, legal guardian, parent-in-law, or an | 24 |
| individual who stood in loco parentis when a person was a child. | 25 |
| (E) "Pro rata" with respect to benefits offered to part-time | 26 |
| employees, means the proportion of each of the benefits offered to | 27 |
| full-time employees that are offered to part-time employees that, | 28 |
| for each benefit, is equal to the ratio of part-time hours worked | 29 |
| to full-time hours worked. | 30 |
| (F) "Sick leave" is defined as an increment of compensated | 31 |
| leave provided by an employer to an employee as a benefit of | 32 |
| employment for use by the employee during an absence from | 33 |
| employment for any of the reasons described in section 4114.03(A) | 34 |
| of the Revised Code. | 35 |
| Sec. 4114.02. Accumulation of Sick Leave | 36 |
| (A) Employers shall provide each employee with not less than: | 37 |
| (1) Seven (7) days of paid sick leave annually for employees | 38 |
| working 30 hours or more a week; or | 39 |
| (2) A pro rata amount of paid sick leave annually for | 40 |
| employees working less than 30 hours per week or less than 1,560 | 41 |
| hours per year. | 42 |
| (B) Sick leave shall begin to accumulate immediately, but no | 43 |
| employer shall be required to grant accrued sick leave before | 44 |
| ninety (90) days from the commencement of employment. Paid sick | 45 |
| leave must accrue at least monthly and, after the initial ninety | 46 |
| (90) day waiting period, may be used as it is accrued. At the | 47 |
| employer's discretion, sick leave may be loaned to the employee in | 48 |
| advance of the accrual by such employee. | 49 |
| (C) Accrued sick leave provided under this section shall | 50 |
| carry over from year to year, but this Act shall not be construed | 51 |
| to require an employer to permit an employee to accumulate more | 52 |
| than seven (7) days of sick leave per year. | 53 |
| (D) For periods of paid sick leave less than a normal | 54 |
| workday, that leave shall be counted: | 55 |
| (1) On an hourly basis; or | 56 |
| (2) If less than an hour, in the smallest increment that the | 57 |
| employer's payroll system uses to account for absences or use of | 58 |
| other leave. | 59 |
| (E) If the schedule of an employee varies from week to week, | 60 |
| a weekly average of the hours worked over the 12-week period prior | 61 |
| to the beginning of a sick leave period shall be used to calculate | 62 |
| the employee's normal workweek for the purposes of determining the | 63 |
| amount of sick leave to which the employee is entitled. | 64 |
| Sec. 4114.03. Use of Sick Leave | 65 |
| (A) Sick leave accrued under this section may be used by an | 66 |
| employee for any of the following: | 67 |
| (1) An absence resulting from a physical or mental illness, | 68 |
| injury, or medical condition of the employee; | 69 |
| (2) An absence resulting from obtaining professional medical | 70 |
| diagnosis or care, or preventive medical care, for the employee; | 71 |
| (3) An absence for the purpose of caring for a child, parent, | 72 |
| or a spouse, who has any of the conditions or needs diagnosis or | 73 |
| care described in paragraphs (1) or (2) above. | 74 |
| (B) Employees shall make reasonable efforts to schedule leave | 75 |
| in a manner that does not unduly disrupt the operations of the | 76 |
| employer. | 77 |
| (C) Sick leave shall be provided upon the oral or written | 78 |
| request of an employee. Such request shall include: | 79 |
| (1) The reason for the absences involved and expected | 80 |
| duration of leave; and | 81 |
| (2) In cases in which leave is foreseeable at least seven (7) | 82 |
| days in advance of such leave, seven (7) days notice shall be | 83 |
| provided; or | 84 |
| (3) In cases in which leave is not foreseeable at least seven | 85 |
| (7) days in advance of such leave, notice shall be given as soon | 86 |
| as practicable once the employee becomes aware of the need for | 87 |
| such leave. | 88 |
| Sec. 4114.04. Certification | 89 |
| (A) An employer may only require that a request for leave be | 90 |
| supported by the certification of a health care professional if | 91 |
| the leave period covers more than three (3) consecutive work days. | 92 |
| (B) An employee must provide certification of a health care | 93 |
| professional upon request to the employer in a timely manner, no | 94 |
| later than thirty (30) days after the first day of leave. The | 95 |
| employer shall not delay the commencement of the leave on the | 96 |
| basis that the employer has not yet received certification. | 97 |
| (C) Any health information possessed by an employer regarding | 98 |
| an employee, employee's child, parent, or spouse shall: | 99 |
| (1) Be maintained on a separate form and in a separate file | 100 |
| from other personnel information; | 101 |
| (2) Be treated as confidential medical records; and | 102 |
| (3) Not be disclosed except to the affected employee or with | 103 |
| the express permission of the affected employee. | 104 |
| Sec. 4114.05. Posting Requirements | 105 |
| (A) Every employer subject to sections 4114.01 to 4114.11 of | 106 |
| the Revised Code, or to any rules issued thereunder, shall keep a | 107 |
| summary of the sections, approved by the director of commerce, and | 108 |
| copies of any applicable rules issued thereunder, or a summary of | 109 |
| the rules, posted in a conspicuous and accessible place in or | 110 |
| about the premises wherein any person subject thereto is employed. | 111 |
| Employees shall be furnished copies of the summaries and rules by | 112 |
| the state, on request, without charge. | 113 |
| (B) An employer who willfully violates the posting | 114 |
| requirements of this section shall be subject to a civil fine in | 115 |
| an amount not to exceed $100.00 for each separate offense. | 116 |
| Sec. 4114.06. Rules | 117 |
| The director of commerce shall adopt rules in accordance with | 118 |
| Chapter 119. of the Revised Code as the director considers | 119 |
| appropriate to carry out the purposes of sections 4114.01 to | 120 |
| 4114.11 of the Revised Code. The rules may be amended from time to | 121 |
| time and may include, but are not limited to, proper notice of | 122 |
| employees' protections under the Act, computations of paid sick | 123 |
| time, proper accrual, and the retention of pertinent records. | 124 |
| Sec. 4114.07. Effect on Current Leave Policies | 125 |
| (A) Nothing in this Act shall be construed to discourage an | 126 |
| employer from the adoption or retention of a paid leave policy | 127 |
| more generous than the one required by this Act. | 128 |
| (B) An employer with a leave policy providing paid leave | 129 |
| options shall not be required to modify such policy, if such | 130 |
| policy offers an employee the option at the employee's discretion | 131 |
| to take paid leave that is at least equivalent to the sick leave | 132 |
| described in this section. | 133 |
| (C) An employer may not eliminate or reduce leave in | 134 |
| existence on the date of enactment of this Act, regardless of the | 135 |
| type of such leave, in order to comply with the provisions of this | 136 |
| Act. | 137 |
| Sec. 4114.08. Right to Collective Bargaining | 138 |
| Nothing in sections 4114.01 to 4114.11 of the Revised Code | 139 |
| interferes with, impedes, or in any way diminishes the right of | 140 |
| employees to bargain collectively with their employers through | 141 |
| representatives of their own choosing in order to establish sick | 142 |
| leave, paid leave, and other terms and conditions of employment in | 143 |
| excess of the minimum paid sick days established in sections | 144 |
| 4114.01 to 4114.11 of the Revised Code. | 145 |
| Sec. 4114.09. Employer Records | 146 |
| Employers shall retain records documenting hours worked by | 147 |
| employees and paid sick leave taken by employees, for a period of | 148 |
| three (3) years, and shall allow the director of the department of | 149 |
| commerce access to such records to monitor compliance with the | 150 |
| requirements of this Act. | 151 |
| Sec. 4114.10. Prohibited Acts by the employer | 152 |
| (A) No employer shall hinder or delay the director of | 153 |
| commerce in the performance of the director's duties in the | 154 |
| enforcement of sections 4114.01 to 4114.11 of the Revised Code, or | 155 |
| refuse to admit the director to any place of employment, or fail | 156 |
| to make, keep, and preserve any records as required under those | 157 |
| sections, or falsify any of those records, or refuse to make them | 158 |
| accessible to the director upon demand, or refuse to furnish them | 159 |
| or any other information required for the proper enforcement of | 160 |
| those sections to the director upon demand, or fail to post a | 161 |
| summary of those sections or a copy of any applicable rules as | 162 |
| required by section 4114.05 of the Revised Code. Each day of | 163 |
| violation constitutes a separate offense. | 164 |
| (B) No employer shall interfere with, restrain, or deny the | 165 |
| exercise of or the attempted exercise of any right provided in | 166 |
| this Act. | 167 |
| (C) No employer shall discharge or in any manner discriminate | 168 |
| against any employee for opposing any practice made unlawful by | 169 |
| this Act, including: | 170 |
| (1) Discharging, or discriminating against any employee for | 171 |
| making any complaint to the employee's employer, or to the | 172 |
| director, that the employee has not been allowed to accrue or use | 173 |
| sick leave in accordance with sections 4114.01 to 4114.11 of the | 174 |
| Revised Code, or because the employee has made any complaint or is | 175 |
| about to cause to be instituted any proceeding under or related | 176 |
| to those sections, or because the employee has testified or is | 177 |
| about to testify in any proceeding, or because the employee is | 178 |
| assisting another in exercising such a right; | 179 |
| (2) Using paid sick leave taken pursuant to this Act as a | 180 |
| negative factor in an employment action, such as hiring, | 181 |
| promotion, or a disciplinary action; or | 182 |
| (3) Counting the use of paid sick leave under a no-fault | 183 |
| attendance policy. | 184 |
| (D) No employer shall provide or agree to provide any accrued | 185 |
| sick leave less than the amount applicable under sections 4114.01 | 186 |
| to 4114.11 of the Revised Code. | 187 |
| (E) No employer shall otherwise violate sections 4114.01 to | 188 |
| 4114.11 of the Revised Code, or any rule adopted thereunder. Each | 189 |
| day of violation constitutes a separate offense. | 190 |
| Sec. 4114.11. Enforcement | 191 |
| (A) Any employee or the attorney general may enforce the | 192 |
| provisions of this statute by bringing a civil action against an | 193 |
| employer to enforce the provisions of this section. The attorney | 194 |
| general may conduct an investigation to obtain voluntary | 195 |
| conciliation of an alleged violation. Such an investigation shall | 196 |
| not be a prerequisite to the bringing of a court action. | 197 |
| (B) Any employer who violates sections 4114.01 to 4114.11 of | 198 |
| the Revised Code shall be liable to any affected employee for: | 199 |
| (1) Damages equal to: | 200 |
| (a) The amount of: | 201 |
| (i) Any wages, salary, employment benefits, or other | 202 |
| compensation denied or lost to such employee by reason of the | 203 |
| violation; or | 204 |
| (ii) In cases in which wages, salary, employment benefits, or | 205 |
| other compensation has not been denied or lost to such employee, | 206 |
| any actual monetary losses sustained by the employee as a direct | 207 |
| result of the violation up to a sum equal to ten (10) days of | 208 |
| wages or salary for the employee; | 209 |
| (b) The interest on the amount described in subclause (i) | 210 |
| calculated at the prevailing rate; and | 211 |
| (c) An additional amount as treble damages; and | 212 |
| (d) Reasonable attorney fees. | 213 |
| (2) For such equitable relief as may be appropriate, | 214 |
| including employment, reinstatement and promotion. | 215 |