Massachusetts Employees Will Be Entitled to Sick Leave for Reproductive Loss Events

Beginning November 21, 2024, the Massachusetts Earned Sick Time Law will expand to include reproductive loss events experienced by an employee or their spouse as a qualifying reason for time off under the Commonwealth’s sick time law. This expansion of the statute reflects a recent trend that has seen multiple states, including California, Colorado, Illinois, and Minnesota, incorporate reproductive loss as legally protected paid or unpaid covered events.

Like many other states, Massachusetts provides for paid sick leave benefits to most workers. In general, if an employer has at least 11 employees (including full-time, part-time and temporary employees), their covered employees are entitled to earn and use up to 40 hours of earned paid sick time in a calendar year, whereas if an employer has less than 11 employees, their covered employees are entitled to earn and use up to 40 hours of earned unpaid sick time from the employer in a calendar year. Prior to a recent amendment, employees were entitled to use earned sick time to:

(1) care for the employee’s child, spouse, parent, or parent of a spouse, who is suffering from a physical or mental illness, injury, or medical condition that requires home care, professional medical diagnosis or care, or preventative medical care;

(2) care for the employee’s own physical or mental illness, injury, or medical condition that requires home care, professional medical diagnosis or care, or preventative medical care;

(3) attend the employee’s routine medical appointment or a routine medical appointment for the employee’s child, spouse, parent, or parent of spouse; or

(4) address the psychological, physical, or legal effects of domestic violence.

This fall, Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey signed into law a new statute under broader legislation, titled “An Act promoting access to midwifery care and out-of-hospital birth options,” that expands the qualifying reasons for earned sick time and entitles Massachusetts employees to earned sick time if the employee suffers a pregnancy loss or experiences a failed adoption, assisted reproduction (such as in vitro fertilization), or surrogacy. Specifically, Massachusetts amended its earned sick leave law to provide that earned sick time must also be available to covered employees to allow them 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.” This law becomes effective on November 21, 2024.

This change to Massachusetts sick time law is consistent with a broader national trend. Last year, Colorado amended its own sick time law to expand its qualifying reasons for use to include certain bereavement-related events, including pregnancy loss. Minnesota has taken a similar approach, while other states, such as Illinois and California, have passed specific bereavement laws that provide unpaid bereavement leave to employees who experience a reproductive loss event (i.e., miscarriage, stillbirth, failed adoption/surrogacy, unsuccessful assisted reproduction).

Employers with Massachusetts employees should review and update their policies to ensure that they are up to date and permit covered employees to use Massachusetts earned sick time for all qualifying reasons. Please contact your Foley & Lardner attorney for assistance navigating the ever-changing paid leave landscape.