Sick leave and FMLA
Sick leave and FMLA
Company sick days
Texas has no state law requiring paid sick leave, so what follows is entirely a Daisy policy, not a legal floor. You get 6 paid sick days a year, front-loaded on January 1 rather than accrued pay period by pay period — the whole bucket is available to you from the start of the year, prorated for new hires based on the quarter you join. Sick days cover you being unwell, caring for an immediate family member who's unwell, or a medical appointment that can't be scheduled outside work hours. This bucket is separate from your PTO; see "PTO and time off" for that one.
For most single-day absences, just message your manager — no form, no note. For an absence of three or more consecutive workdays, or a pattern that raises real questions, we may ask for a doctor's note, mostly so we can figure out together whether something longer-term, like FMLA or short-term disability, is the more appropriate path.
FMLA eligibility
The federal Family and Medical Leave Act gives eligible employees up to 12 weeks of unpaid, job-protected leave in a 12-month period. You're eligible if you've worked at Daisy for at least 12 months (not necessarily consecutive) and logged at least 1,250 hours in the 12 months right before your leave starts. The law also requires the employer to have 50 or more employees within 75 miles of your worksite — with roughly 180 people in a single Austin office, that condition is easily met here, so worksite counting is never the thing that decides your eligibility.
FMLA covers your own serious health condition, caring for a spouse, parent, or child with one, the birth or adoption of a child and bonding time afterward, and certain situations involving a family member's military service. Your job, or an equivalent one, is protected while you're out, and your health coverage continues at the same rate you'd pay as an active employee.
Short-term disability
Daisy pays for short-term disability coverage at no cost to you. If your own health condition keeps you out of work, STD replaces 60% of your base pay for up to 12 weeks, starting after a 7-calendar-day waiting period. It runs alongside FMLA when you qualify for both — FMLA protects your job, STD replaces part of your income while you're out.
Parental leave
Paid parental leave is a Daisy benefit, not a legal entitlement, which means you don't have to meet the FMLA eligibility test to get it — it's available from your first day. The primary caregiver (the person giving birth, or the primary caregiver in an adoption or foster placement) gets 12 weeks paid; a secondary caregiver gets 6 weeks paid. If you're also FMLA-eligible, your parental leave and your FMLA leave run concurrently rather than stacking on top of each other, so you get the job protection and continued benefits FMLA provides for the same period you're already being paid. Talk to People Ops as soon as you know a leave is coming — sooner is always easier to plan around than later.