While Southwest Airlines (NYSE: LUV) is engaged in a public battle with Colorado over the state’s two-year-old paid sick leave law, it is far from the only company that’s run afoul of the new regulations, according to Colorado Department of Labor and Employment numbers.
Since the Healthy Families and Workplace Act took effect in mid-July 2020, CDLE has received 743 individual complaints alleging violations of paid sick leave rights, the department stated in response to questions from Denver Business Journal. It has investigated 418 of those cases and ordered nearly $170,000 in wages to be paid by employers, as well as assessing $1.16 million in fines, although most of that total is the $887,600 assessed against Southwest Airlines.
Under the provisions of the law, which was Senate Bill 20-205, employers are required to allow workers to earn one hour of paid sick leave for every 30 hours worked, up to 48 hours of earned time off each year. Workers are not required to provide a doctor’s note for taking less than four days off and may use the time to care for themselves or for a sick family member, and the bill also provided as much as 80 hours of paid leave for workers that become ill during a public-health emergency.
CDLE imposed a $1.33 million fine on Southwest Airlines in March, including $887,600 for violations related to paid sick leave policy and $443,800 for failing to provide notice of wage and hour rights and maintaining provisions that earned vacation pay can be...
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