The City of Tacoma recently passed an ordinance requiring employers to provide employees paid leave for absences due to the employee's own illness or injury or to care for a family member, among other specified reasons. The ordinance requires that each Tacoma employer (of one or more employees) provide its employees with one hour of paid leave for every forty hours worked in Tacoma, up to a total of twenty-four hours. Consequences for violating the ordinance may include payment of the amount of paid leave due plus interest and a $250 (or more) civil penalty. The ordinance takes effect February 1, 2016.

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