PTO Act

Guaranteed Paid Time Off: Employees will earn paid annual leave starting from the commencement of their employment, with a rate of one hour for every 25 hours worked (Section 3(a)(1)-(3)).

Flexible Leave Use: Employees are permitted to use their earned paid annual leave for any reason (Section 3(b)(1)).

Consistent Compensation: Workers using leave are compensated at their regular rate of pay, and tipped employees are guaranteed a rate equivalent to the higher of the Federal, State, or local minimum wage or their regular rate (Section 3(b)(3)).

Benefit Protection: Employers are required to maintain any employment benefits provided to an employee during their period of leave (Section 3(b)(6)).

Leave Portability: Employees are permitted to carry over up to 40 hours of unused paid annual leave to the following 12-month period (Section 3(c)(5)).

Financial Security upon Separation: If an employee leaves their job, the employer must pay out unused annual leave at a rate based on the employee's final or average regular rate (Section 3(d)(1)).

Protection from Retaliation: The law makes it unlawful for employers to discharge, discriminate against, or use the taking of leave as a negative factor in employment actions like hiring or promotion (Section 5(a)).

Leave Caps: Employers are not required to provide more than 80 hours of paid annual leave to an employee during any 12-month period (Section 3(a)(2)(A)).

Leave Exclusions: The definition of paid annual leave specifically excludes several types of leave, such as family and medical leave, sick leave, bereavement leave, and leave for jury duty or voting (Section 2(5)(B)).

Employment Separation Limitations: For employees rehired within 12 months, the requirement to reinstate leave only applies to those who had more than 80 hours of leave (Section 3(d)(2)(A)).