Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Revises Guidelines on Its Paid Sick Days Act

On December 9, 2025, the City of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania’s Office of Equal Protection released revised guidelines regarding the administration of the Pittsburgh Paid Sick Days Act (PSDA). The PSDA Revised Guidelines both add new obligations and provide additional guidance to employers that provide paid sick leave to employees in the City. The Revised Guidelines will take effect on January 1, 2026 (when both the accrual rate and the amount of paid sick leave available under the PSDA will increase). 

Mandatory Notification of Amount of Paid Sick Leave Accrued

Perhaps the most marked revision in the Revised Guidelines relates to notifying employees of the amount of their accrued paid sick leave. The previously issued PSDA Guidelines merely recommended that employers choose and maintain a reasonable system for providing notification of accrued sick leave, including listing updated amounts of sick leave available on pay stubs (e.g., regular payroll statements) or in an online system where employees can regularly access the information. The Revised Guidelines make this a requirement.

Using Existing Policies

The PSDA does not require employers that already have a paid leave policy (such as a paid time off (PTO) policy) or that provide paid sick leave in a collective bargaining agreement (CBA) to provide additional paid sick leave as long as the policy or the provision in the CBA meets the PSDA’s accrual requirements and the paid leave may be used for the same purposes and under the same conditions as paid sick leave under the PSDA. The Revised Guidelines clarify that PTO policies or contract provisions that require advance or written notice, require employees to find their own replacement, or that provide leave subject to employer approval, will not meet the minimum requirements of the PSDA and cannot be used to comply with the PSDA.

Frontloading

Under the PSDA, employers are permitted to “frontload” all or part of employees’ required paid sick leave at the beginning of each calendar year. The Revised Guidelines make clear that when employers make any portion of the yearly cap of leave available at the beginning of the year, they must use a reasonable calculation, consistent with the law’s accrual requirements, to ensure that the accrual, at all times, meets or exceeds the law’s accrual rate. This is not a marked change, but it serves as a helpful reminder for employers that frontload a prorated amount of paid sick leave to their employees upon hire, especially for employees in positions expected to work overtime hours.

Retaliation

The Revised Guidelines clarify that, as a result of a provision in the PSDA which provides that there is a “rebuttable presumption” of unlawful retaliation “whenever an employer takes action against a person within 90 days” of filing of paid sick leave complaint, the Office of Equal Protection may seek “full restitution” for an employee for all lost wages and benefits in cases of retaliation. 

Recordkeeping

Under the PSDA, employers are required to retain records documenting hours worked and sick leave taken by employees for a period of two years. Under the Revised Guidelines, employers must also retain records documenting any policy used to provide leave under the PSDA for a period of two years. 

Additionally, if a party fails to respond to the City’s inquiries regarding issues as to employees’ entitlements to sick leave under the law within the established timeframes, under the Revised Guidelines it will be presumed that the employer violated the law absent clear and convincing evidence otherwise. Furthermore, a party’s failure to respond to an inquiry from the City will be deemed a waiver of the right to respond.

Penalties for Notice and Posting Violations

The Revised Guidelines clarify the penalties for failing to satisfy the notice and posting requirements. For example, under the PSDA, an employer that willfully violates the law’s notice requirements will be subject to a fine in an amount not to exceed $100 for each separate offense. Pursuant to the Revised Guidelines, violation of both the notice and posting requirements are subject to a fine, and every instance of an employer’s failure to notify a covered employee or post the required poster constitutes a single violation.

Administrative Enforcement

Under the Revised Guidelines, the City is also entitled to require an employer to post or otherwise notify its workers of any ongoing investigation.

Next Steps

Employers with employees covered by the PSDA will want to review their leave policies and practices to ensure that they comply with the changes in the law and with these revised guidelines, both of which take effect January 1, 2026.