Dallas to Enforce its Paid Sick Leave Ordinance Beginning on April 1

Businesses with six or more employees in Dallas have been playing the waiting game to see if the city’s Earned Paid Sick Time (Paid Sick Leave) Ordinance would be enforced amid a lawsuit to halt its implementation and enforcement. However, unlike similar ordinances in Austin and San Antonio, Dallas’ Paid Sick Leave ordinance has not been delayed by a court.

The Dallas Paid Sick Leave Ordinance, which went into effect on Aug. 1, 2019, requires employers with six of more employees to provide eligible employees with one hour of paid sick time for every 30 hours worked within the City of Dallas. Although the city has not enforced the ordinance (except for violations of the anti-retaliation provision), it will begin to do so on April 1. Currently, no part of the ordinance goes into effect for employers with five or fewer employees until Aug. 1, 2021.

Given the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and Dallas County’s Stay Home Stay Safe Order issued on March 22 (which mentions an employee’s ability to take paid sick time), employers should be intentional in their efforts to comply with Dallas’ ordinance and consider the following steps, if they have not done so already:

• Review or implement sick leave policies to ensure compliance with the Paid Sick Leave Ordinance
• Ensure all hours worked by employees are carefully recorded for purposes of calculating earned sick leave
• Obtain and post the required Paid Sick Leave posters in English, Spanish and other languages primarily spoken by employees
• Provide training to managers and supervisors regarding paid sick leave, handling employee requests for paid sick leave, no retaliation for using or attempting to use paid sick leave and penalties for violating the ordinance
• Conduct an audit of employees working outside of Texas to ensure compliance with similar paid sick leave laws in other jurisdictions

Please contact us if you have any questions or need advice implementing a compliant sick leave policy. For more information related to COVID-19 and employee leave and time off of work, please see these updated FAQs and Phelps’ COVID-19: Client Resource Portal.