Variations in paid sick leave requirements can cause major compliance issues for employers, particularly as the requirements can vary not only state-to-state but from locality to locality within a state. In fact, respondents to Ogletree Deakins' recent survey report, Strategies and Benchmarks for the Workplace: Ogletree's Survey of Key Decision-Makers, ranked leaves of absence, including paid sick leave and state leave laws, as the number one most challenging multijurisdictional compliance issue.

New state and local laws and the expiration of COVID-19 specific leave in most jurisdictions are adding new layers of complexity for employers responding to leave requests.

New Paid Sick Leave Laws

New Mexico and West Hollywood, California, are both joining the list of jurisdictions with paid sick time laws, with laws that took effect on July 1, 2022. Under the New Mexico law, employees accrue paid sick leave at a rate of one hour for every 30 hours worked. The accrual is unlimited, but there is a use cap per year of only 64 hours. The New Mexico Department of Workforce Solutions (DWS) acknowledges that this means that employees can accrue more hours than they can use and employers must track both the accrual and the use of those hours and inform employees. The law applies to remote workers who physically work in the state of New Mexico.

However, New Mexico's sick leave requirements are different in Bernalillo County, New Mexico, which has its own leave law-one of only a few that...

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