Sick & Safe Time laws require employers to provide paid time off based on the actual number of hours an employee works, rather than on tenure or calendar time. These laws vary by state and municipality but generally follow a rule like "1 hour of paid leave for every 30 hours worked." Inn-Flow's hourly accrual feature helps properties stay compliant while reducing manual tracking.
Several states and cities have adopted Sick & Safe laws, including:
Minnesota (Earned Sick and Safe Time): 1 hour per 30 hours worked, up to 48 hours/year.
Oregon: Similar accrual rules, but allows front-loading in some cases.
Colorado: Accrual required for all employers, regardless of size.
New York City: Includes safe time for domestic violence or other covered reasons.
These laws often require that all hours worked – including overtime – count toward accrual, and typically exclude PTO hours from earning additional time.
How to Set It Up
Navigate to Time Off Policies. Go to Labor Management, then Time Off Policies, and select an existing policy or create a new one.
Choose the Accrual method. In the policy configuration, set How are hours earned? to Accrual. This unlocks the toggle for hourly-based accrual.
Enable Track Time-Off by Hours Worked. Toggle Track time-off by hours worked to ON. Tooltip: "Use this setting when employees earn time off based on hours worked, such as 1 hour per 30 hours worked. Required for Sick & Safe compliance in certain states."
4. Enter the hourly accrual rate. Enter the rate (for example, 0.0333 = 1 hour per 30 worked). The system auto-calculates a Yearly Equivalent for reference based on a 2080-hour work year. This value will depend on your state and local laws.
The Yearly Equivalent value is for display only – actual accrual depends on tracked hours worked. |
5. Choose an awarding frequency. Time can be awarded either at the end of each pay period or on the employee's anniversary date. The system tracks cumulative hours across periods (for example, 29 hours in one period plus 1 hour in the next triggers an award). This also depends on your state and local laws.
6. Review the legal default toggles. When you enable Track time-off by hours worked, the system automatically updates two toggles for compliance.
Setting | Default | Tooltip |
Earn on Overtime | On | Sick & Safe laws require accrual on all hours worked, including overtime. |
Earn on PTO | Off | PTO hours should not count toward additional accruals under most laws. |
You can manually override these defaults, but Inn-Flow will log the changes and display warnings:
If you disable Earn on Overtime: "Disabling overtime-based accrual may result in non-compliance with state labor laws. Proceed with caution."
If you enable Earn on PTO: "Most Sick & Safe Time laws do not require employees to earn time off while taking time off. Confirm with your local laws."
Validation & Limits
The hourly accrual rate is required when this toggle is ON.
The Max Hours Awarded field controls the total cap (for example, 48 hours/year).
These limits also depend on your state and local laws.
Best Practices
Work with your legal or HR teams to validate the hourly rate and award frequency.
For multi-location hotels, apply this policy only where required.
If you need help setting up a Sick & Safe policy or confirming state-specific rules, contact Inn-Flow Support.