A yellow and purple flier describing the Seattle Sick and Safe Time Ordinance sits on a table with a green notebook, pencil, and bowl of green grapes.

If you hire someone in your home to do housecleaning, childcare, gardening, home care, or other household labor, here’s what you need to know about their rights to sick and safe leave:

  1. From the day your employee starts working until the day they stop, they earn PSST. Depending on the size of the business, employees earn 1 hour for every 30-40 hours worked.
  2. All employees earn PSST, even if they are part-time, seasonal, or temporary. Employees earn PSST regardless of immigration status.
  3. If an employee or their family member is sick, injured, has a doctor’s appointment, has a closure of a place of school or care, or is in an unsafe situation, they can use PSST hours to take care of themselves or their loved ones without losing pay.
  4. Employers must allow an employee to use PSST for any reason protected by the law, and cannot ask questions about the underlying reason for the need for sick leave.
  5. If an employee doesn’t use all their PSST before the end of the year, they are able to carry over their hours. Depending on the size of business, this may be between 40 and 108 unused hours.

Free Services Provided by the Office of Labor Standards:

  • Investigations of complaints
  • Outreach to workers
  • Technical assistance for business
  • Resources and referrals
  • Language interpretation, translations, and accommodation

Find more information at seattle.gov/laborstandards/ordinances/paid-sick-and-safe-time, including a detailed Q&A.

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