Earlier this year Governor Shumlin signed into law Vermont’s “Earned Sick Time Act” (21 V.S.A. §§ 481–486) which is intended to “promote a healthier environment at work, school, and in public by ensuring that employees are provided with paid leave time for purposes of health care and safety.” Several other states, including California, have already enacted similar laws.
The provisions of Vermont’s Earned Sick Time (VEST) act will be phased in over the next three years and will apply only to certain Vermont-based employees classified as non-benefits-eligible faculty or staff as well as to Middlebury student employees; specifically, to those employees who average at least 18 hours of work per week over a calendar quarter. (The current paid time off policies covering benefits-eligible employees meet or exceed what is required by the VEST Act, therefore time off policies for employees so classified will continue as before.)
Beginning in calendar year 2017, eligible employees will be able to accrue up to a maximum of 24 hours of VEST time, which may then be used starting in calendar year 2018 (or after 12 months of employment for individuals hired after January 1, 2017). Accrued VEST can be used for certain health and safety reasons such as employee or family illness, doctors’ appointments, etc. The first quarterly VEST accruals will be made in early April 2017 for those non-benefits-eligible faculty, staff and student employees who averaged 18 hours of work per week during the period January 1, 2017 through March 31, 2017. Accruals will continue to be made shortly after the end of each subsequent quarter. Detailed information about eligibility for, and use of, VEST will be provided to eligible employees and their managers prior to the first accrual grant.
—Cheryl Mullins
Human Resources