As of Nov. 21, 2024, Massachusetts employees may use earned sick time to address physical and mental health needs following a pregnancy loss or failed assisted reproduction, adoption, or surrogacy under an amendment to the Massachusetts Earned Sick Time Law.

Earned Sick Time Law

Originally passed by ballot measure in November 2014 and effective as of July 1, 2015, the Massachusetts Earned Sick Time Law requires employers to allow workers to accrue and use up to 40 hours of sick leave each calendar year. Employees must be allowed to accrue a minimum of one hour of earned sick time for every 30 hours worked. Employers with 11 or more employees must provide paid sick time. Employers with fewer than 11 employees must provide earned sick time, but it does not need to be paid.

The pre-amendment statute requires employers to allow employees to use accrued time off to:

1. care for the employee’s child, spouse, parent, or parent of a spouse, who is suffering from a physical or mental illness, injury, or medical condition that requires home care, professional medical diagnosis or care, or preventative medical care; or
2. care for the employee’s own physical or mental illness, injury, or medical condition that requires home care, professional medical diagnosis or care, or preventative medical care; or
3. attend the employee’s routine medical appointment or a routine medical appointment for the employee’s child, spouse, parent, or parent of spouse; or
4. address the psychological, physical or legal effects of domestic violence.

Amendment

The amendment includes a new subsection that, beginning on Nov. 21, 2024, requires employers to allow employees to use accrued time to:

5. address the employee’s own physical and mental health needs, and those of their spouse, if the employee or the employee’s spouse experiences pregnancy loss or a failed assisted reproduction, adoption or surrogacy.

Although employees may have been entitled to take time off for their own or a spouse’s pregnancy loss under subsection (1) or (2), depending on the circumstances, new subsection (5) guarantees accrued time can be used in all cases of pregnancy loss and expands protections to include failed attempts at growing an employee’s family, such as failed in vitro fertilization or adoption.

The amendment was included in a larger bill entitled “An Act Promoting Access to Midwifery Care and Out-of-Hospital Birth Options.” The bill focuses on improving maternal health care, both physical and mental, and expanding protections for families and children, including those seeking fertility treatment and adoption.

Next

Employers should expect the Office of the Attorney General to publish an updated notice of employee rights related to earned sick time that includes the expanded list of reasons employees may use earned sick time.