Fertility Related Loss To Be Covered Under the Massachusetts Earned Sick Time Act

Effective November 21, 2024, Massachusetts employees may take earned sick time to “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.”

As a reminder, under the Massachusetts Earned Sick Time Act, employees must be provided with up to 40 hours of earned sick time per year, either frontloaded or accrued at a rate of one hour of earned sick time for every 30 hours worked.  If the employer has more than 11 employees, this earned sick time must be paid; for those with fewer, it is unpaid.    

Employees may use earned sick for this new reason, on top of other permissible uses, including:  

• To care for an employee’s own physical or mental illness, injury, or other medical condition that requires home, preventative, or professional care;
• To care for an employee’s child, spouse, or parent of a spouse who is suffering from a physical or mental illness, injury, or other medical condition that requires home, preventative or professional care;
• To attend to the employee’s own medical and dental appointments or those of their child, parent, spouse, or parent of a spouse;
• To address the psychological, physical, or legal effects of domestic violence; or
• To travel to and from an appointment, a pharmacy, or other location related to the purpose for which earned sick time was taken.  

This expansion is owed to the passage of a bill passed to support maternal healthcare entitled “An Act Promoting Access to Midwifery Care and Out-of-Hospital Birth Options.”  Providing leave specific to fertility related losses is a growing trend, both by state law and at the election of private employers in crafting their own leave policies (e.g., “compassionate leave”), which we discuss here.  We will update this post if and after a new sample notice of rights is published accounting for this new leave reason.

Mintz’s Employment Practice is ready to assist with any questions concerning this expansion of Massachusetts Earned Sick Time, along with the compassionate leave policies.  

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