Philadelphia paid sick leave for restaurants after the POWER Act

Philadelphia has required earned sick leave since 2015 under an ordinance called Promoting Healthy Families and Workplaces. For a restaurant owner with staff who work inside city limits, it affects scheduling, payroll and the employee handbook. This guide, last checked in October 2026, explains the rule after the city's POWER Act of May 2025 changed it, and says where to confirm the figures. It is general information, not legal advice, and the city's Office of Worker Protections is the authority on the current text.

How does sick leave accrue in Philadelphia?

Philadelphia has required earned sick leave since 2015 under an ordinance called Promoting Healthy Families and Workplaces. The city's POWER Act, signed on May 27, 2025 and in effect from signing, amended it. The city's own notices continue to describe the basic accrual as one hour of sick time for every 40 hours worked in the city, and the original annual limit was 40 hours. Some 2025 summaries report that the Act raised the yearly limits by employer size, while the city's pages and other summaries do not yet say so, so confirm the current accrual rate and annual limit for your headcount with the Office of Worker Protections, which said in an August 2025 memo that it is updating its regulations to reflect the Act. Do not set up payroll from an older summary.

Is the leave paid?

For employers with 10 or more employees, the city says the leave is paid. Employers with nine or fewer employees provide unpaid sick leave. Ask the Office of Worker Protections how the ordinance treats chain and franchise locations, because some summaries say a chain must provide paid leave regardless of the headcount at each site. If your restaurant is part of a group or franchise, ask a lawyer how that applies to you.

Who is excluded?

The ordinance excludes some categories, and the POWER Act narrowed one of them: only non-probationary union employees covered by a bona fide collective bargaining agreement are excluded, according to a Littler summary of the Act. Ask the city which other categories, such as independent contractors and seasonal workers, are excluded today. Do not assume that a worker you call a contractor is excluded. The city looks at the facts of the relationship, not the label.

What reasons can employees use sick leave for?

The ordinance covers illness, injury or medical care for the employee or a family member, and also time needed because of domestic violence, sexual assault or stalking. The POWER Act also expanded some qualifying reasons and strengthened protection against retaliation, according to law firm summaries. Employers may ask for reasonable notice and, for longer absences, documentation, within the limits of the ordinance. Retaliation for using leave is prohibited. Your handbook should state the reasons, the notice process and who to contact. The same summaries say the Act removed the requirement to put the notice in the employee handbook, so ask the city what notice or posting is required now.

How do you count hours and track leave?

Use your payroll or scheduling system to track hours worked in the city and accrued leave. Show the balance on each pay stub or in the staff app. A restaurant with part-time and seasonal staff should check which workers pass the coverage threshold. The POWER Act lengthened the time employers must keep records of hours worked and leave taken and paid, from two years to three, according to Littler. Keep the postings the city requires. If staff work in more than one location, only the hours inside the city count for the Philadelphia rule.

How does it interact with scheduling?

A worker with a sick day may need coverage at short notice. Build a call list and cross-training so that one absence does not close a station. If a worker calls in sick, record the absence as protected leave, not as a no-show. Do not require the employee to find their own replacement as a condition of using sick leave. Philadelphia's Fair Workweek law, covered in a separate guide in this series, has its own rules on schedule changes for larger employers, so read them together.

How is it different from Pittsburgh and the rest of Pennsylvania?

Pittsburgh has its own paid sick days ordinance, and the guide on it in this series gives the 2026 figures. Pennsylvania has no statewide earned sick leave law that applies to most restaurants, so a restaurant with locations in both cities must follow each city's rule. Suburban locations follow state and federal law, plus any local rules. Check each jurisdiction separately.

What should you do this month?

Read the city's page on paid sick leave and its POWER Act pages, and look for the latest regulations. Check your handbook, pay stub and posting. Confirm how your payroll system counts accrual and the wait before use. If you employ tipped workers, ask your payroll provider to apply the city's rate: for employers with 10 or more employees the city set paid sick time for tipped workers at 17.88 dollars an hour from July 1, 2026 to June 30, 2027, up from 16.86 dollars the year before, and the city counts a tipped employee as someone who customarily and regularly receives more than 50 dollars a month in tips. Train managers not to discourage leave. If you are unsure about the chain rule or the coverage of a particular worker, ask an employment attorney.

More guides for your business:

• Philadelphia wage theft rules: what restaurant owners should know
• Philadelphia's Fair Workweek law: does it apply to your restaurant?
• Philadelphia's 15 percent delivery commission cap for restaurants

More in the US guides for food businesses.