Requiring specified employers to provide time off for preventative medical screening to their employees.

This bill would amend the City’s Earned Safe and Sick Time Act adding an employee entitlement to 5 hours annually of paid preventative medical screening time for absence of work to obtain preventative medical care such as routine or preventative medical treatment, diagnosis, screening, check-up, or patient counseling to identify or prevent illnesses, disease, or other health problems. The time would be paid at the employee’s regular pay rate and be in addition to their accrual or use of existing safe/sick time. It would not require accrual. It would be required to be paid by the next regular pay date. Within certain limits, an employer could require reasonable documentation from the employee on the use of the time. An employer could not require the employee to work additional hours to make up for the original hours the employee was unavailable, or find a replacement employee to cover their hours, due to the employee’s use of the time. The bill would provide relief and penalties for a failure to provide this time. The local law would take effect 120 days after it becomes law except that the Commissioner of the Department of Consumer and Worker Protection must promulgate rules as necessary to give effect to the law prior to this date.