Virginia Code 40.1-33.5: Use of paid sick leave
A. Paid sick leave shall be provided to an employee by an employer for:
Terms Used In Virginia Code 40.1-33.5
- Employee: means a home health worker who works on average at least 20 hours per week or 90 hours per month. See Virginia Code 40.1-33.3
- Employer: means an individual, partnership, association, corporation, legal representative, receiver, trustee, or trustee in bankruptcy doing business in or operating within this Commonwealth who employs another to work for wages, salaries, or on commission and shall include any similar entity acting directly or indirectly in the interest of an employer in relation to an employee. See Virginia Code 40.1-2
- Family member: means :
1. See Virginia Code 40.1-33.3
- in writing: include any representation of words, letters, symbols, numbers, or figures, whether (i) printed or inscribed on a tangible medium or (ii) stored in an electronic or other medium and retrievable in a perceivable form and whether an electronic signature authorized by Chapter 42. See Virginia Code 1-257
- Paid sick leave: means leave that is compensated at the same hourly rate and with the same benefits, including health care benefits, as an employee normally earns during hours worked and is provided by an employer to an employee for the purposes described in § 40. See Virginia Code 40.1-33.3
1. An employee’s mental or physical illness, injury, or health condition; an employee’s need for medical diagnosis, care, or treatment of a mental or physical illness, injury, or health condition; or an employee’s need for preventive medical care; or
2. Care of a family member with a mental or physical illness, injury, or health condition; care of a family member who needs medical diagnosis, care, or treatment of a mental or physical illness, injury, or health condition; or care of a family member who needs preventive medical care.
B. Paid sick leave shall be provided upon the request of an employee. Such request may be made orally, in writing, by electronic means, or by any other means acceptable to the employer. When possible, the request shall include the expected duration of the absence.
C. When the use of paid sick leave is foreseeable, the employee shall make a good faith effort to provide notice of the need for such leave to the employer in advance of the use of the paid sick leave and shall make a reasonable effort to schedule the use of paid sick leave in a manner that does not unduly disrupt the operations of the employer.
D. An employer that requires notice of the need to use paid sick leave shall provide a written policy that contains procedures for its employees to provide notice. An employer that has not provided to an employee a copy of its written policy for providing such notice shall not deny paid sick leave to the employee based on noncompliance with such a policy.
E. An employer shall not require, as a condition of an employee’s taking paid sick leave, that an employee search for or find a replacement worker to cover the hours during which the employee is using paid sick leave. An employer shall not require an employee to work an alternate shift to make up for the use of sick leave.
F. For paid sick leave of three or more consecutive work days, an employer may require reasonable documentation that the paid sick leave has been used for a purpose for which such leave is required to be provided as set forth in subsection A.
2021, Sp. Sess. I, c. 449.