Sick/Safe Leave Benefit

What You Need to Know

The Health Fund provides a benefit to pay for time off from work for health reasons, including to care for yourself or your family member during an illness or to attend a medical appointment, as well as for safety reasons for you or your family member. You earn leave time for your hours worked and can use the benefit for either four or eight hours of leave a day.

Highlights

To be eligible for a benefit, you must be scheduled to work for a contributing employer OR you must be listed on the LIUNA Local 271 referral list and be available to work, and your work must be scheduled within the state of Rhode Island.
You can apply for a benefit during the one-month window before or the one-month window after you take the time off.
The benefit is taxable, so include a Form W-4 with your benefit application.
The benefit is not payable if you receive other payment benefits for the same days, such as through temporary disability insurance, temporary caregiver insurance, or workers’ compensation insurance.

How the Benefit Works

Earning leave

You earn, or accrue, one hour of leave for every 35 hours you work in covered employment on and after January 1, 2024.

At the end of the calendar year, your unused accrued leave will roll over to the next calendar year, up to a maximum of 40 hours. You cannot accrue more than 40 hours of leave per calendar year (including hours that are rolled over).

New members

If you’re a new member, you’ll begin to accrue leave on your first day of covered employment. However, you cannot use accrued leave until after you’ve worked 90 days.

What you can use leave for

You can use either four or eight hours of leave a day for the following reasons:

Your own mental or physical illness, injury, or condition
To attend medical appointments for yourself or a family member
To care for a family member with a mental or physical illness, injury, or condition
Time during which your workplace is closed due to a public health emergency
Time during which your child’s school or day care is closed due to a public health emergency
To care for a family member who is under health quarantine
An absence due to reasons related to domestic violence, sexual assault, or stalking experienced by you or a family member

“Family member” includes your child, parent, spouse, parent-in-law, grandparent, grandchild, sibling, domestic partner, and any other individual for whom you provide care or who is a member of your household.

“Child” includes your biological, adopted, or foster child, your stepson or stepdaughter, your legal ward, a child of your domestic partner, or a child with whom you have a parentlike relationship.

Amount of leave payment

Leave will be paid at the base wage rate under your collective bargaining agreement. If your employer pays you at a rate higher than the base wage rate, your employer will be responsible for paying the difference.

How to Apply

Complete an application form and a Form W-4 and submit both to the Fund Office within one month before or one month after the time off. A Form W-4 is necessary so that the Fund can withhold the correct federal income tax; otherwise, taxes will be withheld from your benefit based on a filing status of single, no dependents.
Include the date(s) you took leave (or plan to take leave, in the case of leave for a foreseeable reason) and the number of hours of leave you are requesting.
On the form, you must attest that you were scheduled to work (or you were listed as available for work but were not able to work due to one of the reasons above), and that you won’t receive other payment benefits for the same days.

When to Apply for the Benefit

You must submit your application within one month before or one month after you take the time off.

If you have an upcoming request that you know about in advance, such as a scheduled doctor’s appointment, you can submit your application in advance—within one month before the date(s) you will be unable to work.

Be Sure to Submit Your Application on Time

Note that applications submitted more than one month before the date of leave or one month after the date of leave will not be honored.

Verifying Your Request

The Fund Office may verify the information provided on your application by contacting your employer and/or the LIUNA Local 271 business manager.

Generally, the Fund will not require proof of your need for leave. However, if you request leave for more than three consecutive workdays, or if the Fund Office notices a pattern of leave requests for days just before or after a weekend, vacation, or holiday, they may ask you to provide proof documenting your need.

Questions?

Contact the Fund Office if you need to apply for the Sick Leave benefit.

Fund Office
200 Midway Road
Cranston, RI 02920
401-942-8690