Delaware Sick Leave Laws and other Protected Leave Laws

Sick Leave Laws in Delaware

Sick leave and state FMLA laws have been passing around the country. In the last year alone, DC, Rhode Island and New York have all passed paid family and medical leave laws. Additionally, Arizona, St Paul, Minneapolis, Chicago and Cook County have passed mandatory sick leave laws.

It has become more important than ever before for businesses to stay current on local employment laws. Yet, currently the state of Delaware does not have any state or local laws that mandate required sick leave, either paid or unpaid.

However, employers in Delaware who offer sick leave, vacation leave or other types of paid time off are under a legal obligation to provide leave according to their employment policies.

In addition, large employers in Delaware are required to provide eligible employees with Federal Family and Medical Leave, which provides a form of sick leave for employees who have a serious illness or injury.

The Federal Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) applied to businesses with at least 50 employees or more. Employees who work in a location where 50 employees are employed within a 75 mile radius and who meet certain employment conditions are eligible to use FMLA leave.

Employees must have already worked for their employer for at least 12 months previous to the leave. The 12 months of employment don’t need to have been consecutive or to have been the prior 12 months. However, the employee does have to work at least 1,250 hours in the preceding 12 months to the leave. That’s the equivalent to just over 31 weeks of full time work.

Under FMLA law, one of the reasons employees can take time off is for their own serious illness or injury. Employees can take as little as 1 day off at a time or can take a partial day if the employer allows it.

This means that for at least serious illnesses or injuries, covered Delaware employees have a form of unpaid, but protected leave available to them.

Serious Health Condition under FMLA

Under FMLA law, a serious health condition is an injury or illness that contains one of several characteristics.

1. Any period that involves in care treatment, including at a hospital, hospice, or residential care facility
2. A period of at least 3 or more days requiring absence from work, school, or other regular activities and also requires the continuing care of a health care physician.
3. Any period of incapacity involving pregnancy or for prenatal care
4. Any period of incapacity due to a chronic health condition including conditions such as asthma, diabetes, epilepsy or other conditions.
5. Permanent or long-term conditions for which treatment may not be effective such as alzheimer’s, stroke, terminal diseases
6. Any absences to receive multiple treatments or to recover from the treatments for conditions that would result in more than 3 days absences if the condition was left untreated. This includes chemotherapy, physical therapy, dialysis and other types of treatments.

In cases of these illnesses or injuries, employees can take of protected time of work when ill or sick. FMLA doesn’t cover minor sickness such as cold and the flue unless it becomes severe enough to warrant 3 days or more off of work.

Other Leaves Provided under Delaware Law

The other types of leaves typically provided under state laws include leaves for voting, jury duty, and bereavement leave.

However, Delaware does not have any protected leave laws regarding voting leave or jury duty leave.

Employees who are summoned to jury duty or to appear for possible jury duty are protected during the time they are away, but employer are not required to pay wages or provide any other form of compensation while the employee is on leave.

Bereavement leave is typically provided to employees in the case of the death of a close family member. Delaware does not have any laws that require employers to provide bereavement leave to employees.

Let SwipeClock Help

Although Delaware employers do not have as many leave laws as some of the surrounding states, businesses can still benefit from the automated workforce and timekeeping tools that SwipeClock provides to stay compliant with Federal employment and FLSA laws.

SwipeClock provides a comprehensive array of workforce management and time tracking tools that can help businesses to more easily stay in compliance with local and national laws.

Records are effortlessly kept for years and accrual is automatically tracked and reported to employees according the state and city laws. Additionally, with geo-timekeeping clocks, businesses can effortlessly track time worked in specific cities to ensure compliance.

About SwipeClock

SwipeClock is a leading provider of cloud-based integrated workforce management solutions that include automated time and attendance, advanced scheduling, and leave management capabilities.

The company’s products, including TimeWorksPlus, TimeSimplicity and Workforce Management Clock enable employers to manage their most important and expensive asset-employees-by transforming labor from a cost of doing business to a competitive advantage.

SwipeClock’s workforce management solutions are sold through over 850 partners that empower more than 26,000 businesses to lower labor costs, comply with regulatory mandates, and maximize their profits.

Written by Annemaria Duran. Last updated May 29, 2017