LD 1044
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LD 1044 Title Page An Act To Care for Families Page 2 of 2
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LR 1441
Item 1

 
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:

 
Sec. 1. 26 MRSA §636 is enacted to read:

 
§636.__Family sick leave

 
1.__Definitions.__As used in this section, unless the context
otherwise indicates, the following terms have the following
meanings.

 
A.__"Immediate family member" includes, but is not limited
to, an employee's child, spouse, parent and parent of the
spouse.

 
B.__"Paid leave" means time away from work by an employee
for which the employee receives compensation, including, but
not limited to, sick time, vacation time and compensatory
time.

 
2.__Use of paid leave.__If an employer, under the terms of a
collective bargaining agreement or employment policy, provides
paid leave, then the employer shall allow an employee to use the
paid leave for the care of an immediate family member who is ill.

 
3.__Election of time; amount.__An employee may use any amount
of paid leave up to but not more than the amount of paid leave
that employee has earned.__An employee who receives more than one
type of paid leave may elect which type and the amount of each of
those types of paid leave to use.

 
4.__Compliance with contract or policy.__An employee who takes
paid leave pursuant to this section shall comply with the terms
of a collective bargaining agreement or employment policy, if
applicable, except that this section prevails over any contrary
provision in a collective bargaining agreement or employment
policy.

 
5.__Prohibited actions by employer.__An employer may not
eliminate or threaten to eliminate an existing paid leave
benefit.__An employer may not discharge, demote, suspend,
discipline or otherwise discriminate against an employee or
threaten to do any of these actions against an employee who
exercises rights granted under this section or who files a
complaint or testifies or assists in an action brought against
the employer for a__violation of this section.

 
6.__Application of family medical leave requirements.__This
section does not affect in any way leave granted pursuant to the
family medical leave requirements of subchapter 6-A.


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