considered to be a person engaged in com-
merce or in an industry or activity affect-
ing commerce. 
(iii) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of 
this subparagraph: 
(I) 
COMMERCE.—The 
terms 
‘‘commerce’’ and ‘‘industry or activity 
affecting commerce’’ mean any activ-
ity, business, or industry in commerce 
or in which a labor dispute would 
hinder or obstruct commerce or the 
free flow of commerce, and include 
‘‘commerce’’ and any ‘‘industry affect-
ing commerce’’, as defined in para-
graphs (1) and (3) of section 501 of 
the Labor Management Relations Act, 
1947 (29 U.S.C. 142 (1) and (3)). 
(II) EMPLOYEE.—The term ‘‘em-
ployee’’ has the same meaning given 
such term in section 3(e) of the Fair 
Labor Standards Act of 1938 (29 
U.S.C. 203(e)). 
(III) PERSON.—The term ‘‘per-
son’’ has the same meaning given 
such term in section 3(a) of the Fair
Labor Standards Act of 1938 (29 
U.S.C. 203(a)). 
(C) PREDECESSORS.—Any reference in 
this paragraph to an employer shall include a 
reference to any predecessor of such employer. 
(4) EMPLOYMENT BENEFITS.—The term ‘‘em-
ployment benefits’’ means all benefits provided or 
made available to employees by an employer, includ-
ing group life insurance, health insurance, disability 
insurance, sick leave, annual leave, educational bene-
fits, and pensions, regardless of whether such bene-
fits are provided by a practice or written policy of 
an employer or through an ‘‘employee benefit plan’’, 
as defined in section 3(3) of the Employee Retire-
ment Income Security Act of 1974 (29 U.S.C. 
1002(3)). 
(5) HEALTH
CARE
PROVIDER.—The term 
‘‘health care provider’’ means a provider who— 
(A)(i) is a doctor of medicine or osteopathy 
who is authorized to practice medicine or sur-
gery (as appropriate) by the State in which the 
doctor practices; or 
(ii) is any other person determined by the 
Secretary to be capable of providing health care 
services; and
(B) is not employed by an employer for 
whom the provider issues certification under 
this Act. 
(6) PARENT.—The term ‘‘parent’’ means a bio-
logical, foster, or adoptive parent of an employee, a 
stepparent of an employee, or a legal guardian or 
other person who stood in loco parentis to an em-
ployee when the employee was a child. 
(7) PRO RATA.—The term ‘‘pro rata’’, with re-
spect to benefits offered to part-time employees, 
means the proportion of each of the benefits offered 
to full-time employees that are offered to part-time 
employees that, for each benefit, is equal to the ratio 
of part-time hours worked to full-time hours worked. 
(8) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 
the Secretary of Labor. 
(9) SICK LEAVE.—The term ‘‘sick leave’’ means 
an increment of compensated leave provided by an 
employer to an employee as a benefit of employment 
for use by the employee during an absence from em-
ployment for any of the reasons described in para-
graphs (1) through (3) of section 5(d). 
(10) SPOUSE.—The term ‘‘spouse’’, with re-
spect to an employee, has the meaning given such
term by the marriage laws of the State in which the 
employee resides. 
SEC. 5. PROVISION OF PAID SICK LEAVE. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—An employer shall provide for 
each employee employed by the employer not less than— 
(1) 7 days of sick leave with pay annually for 
employees working 30 or more hours per week; or 
(2) a pro rata number of days or hours of sick 
leave with pay annually for employees working less 
than— 
(A) 30 hours per week on a year-round 
basis; or 
(B) 1,500 hours throughout the year in-
volved. 
(b) ACCRUAL.— 
(1) PERIOD OF ACCRUAL.—Sick leave provided 
for under this section shall accrue as determined ap-
propriate by the employer, but not on less than a 
quarterly basis. 
(2) ACCUMULATION.—Accrued sick leave pro-
vided for under this section shall carry over from 
year to year, but this Act shall not be construed to 
require an employer to permit an employee to accu-
mulate more than 7 days of sick leave.
(3) USE.—The sick leave may be used as ac-
crued. The employer, at the discretion of the em-
ployer, may loan the sick leave to the employee in 
advance of accrual by such employee. 
(c) CALCULATION.— 
(1) LESS THAN A FULL WORKDAY.—Unless the 
employer and employee agree to designate otherwise, 
for periods of sick leave that are less than a normal 
workday, that leave shall be counted— 
(A) on an hourly basis; or 
(B) in the smallest increment that the em-
ployer’s payroll system uses to account for ab-
sences or use of leave. 
(2) VARIABLE SCHEDULE.—If the schedule of 
an employee varies from week to week, a weekly av-
erage of the hours worked over the 12-week period 
prior to the beginning of a sick leave period shall be 
used to calculate the employee’s normal workweek 
for the purpose of determining the amount of sick 
leave to which the employee is entitled. 
(d) USES.—Sick leave accrued under this section may 
be used by an employee for any of the following: 
(1) An absence resulting from a physical or 
mental illness, injury, or medical condition of the 
employee.