Philadelphia Employer Rules by Headcount: The Checklist

How to count employees for Philadelphia purposes

Before you can tell which city rules apply to you, you need a headcount. That sounds simple, and it is not, because Philadelphia does not use one definition of “employee” across its ordinances. Each chapter of the Philadelphia Code sets its own counting rule.

Paid sick leave, for example, covers employees who work 40 or more hours a year inside the city. The commuter benefit counts only people who average 30 or more hours a week in the city, and it looks back over the prior 12 months. Fair Workweek counts employees worldwide, not just in Philadelphia. The same company can be “over the line” for one rule and “under it” for another.

So when this guide says “10 employees” or “50 employees,” read it as a starting point, not a verdict. Say this plainly to anyone advising you: the counting definitions vary by ordinance, and you have to check each one against its own code section. Law firms that track these rules, including Ogletree in its summary of the city ordinances every Philadelphia employer should know, make the same point.

Here is the map. The rest of this guide walks through each row.

Applies from your first Philadelphia employee

Five ordinances apply to every employer with a single person working in the city. There is no small-business exemption for any of them. If you hire one person in Philadelphia, these are yours on day one.

Ban the Box, Chapter 9-3500

Philadelphia’s Fair Criminal Record Screening Standards ordinance, known as Ban the Box, limits when and how you can ask about criminal history during hiring. It applies to all employers. The ordinance was amended effective January 6, 2026, and the law firm Morgan Lewis has published a summary of what changed. Our article on the 2026 Ban the Box changes walks through the new process step by step.

Wage Equity, the salary history ban, Section 9-1131

The Wage Equity ordinance, part of the City’s Fair Practices Ordinance (Chapter 9-1100), bars you from asking a job applicant about their pay history or relying on it to set an offer. It applies to all employers. Enforcement began September 1, 2020, and the Philadelphia Commission on Human Relations, or PCHR, enforces it and publishes FAQs. Pay history questions come up naturally in conversations about pay ranges, so read this together with our piece on Philadelphia pay transparency.

Wage Theft Complaints, Chapter 9-4300

The wage theft ordinance gives workers a city-level path to recover unpaid wages. It applies to all employers and has been in effect since July 1, 2016. A worker can file a complaint with the City for unpaid wages of $100 or more, and the filing window is three years. The POWER Act removed the old $10,000 cap in 2025. City Council’s summary of the ordinance explains the process. You are also required to give employees notice of this law, either in writing or by posting the City’s wage theft notice where employees can see it.

Pre-employment marijuana testing ban, Chapter 9-5500

Since January 1, 2022, Philadelphia has barred most employers from requiring a marijuana test as a condition of a job offer. It applies to all employers, but there are exemptions. They cover police and law enforcement, jobs that require a commercial driver’s license, jobs that involve care of children, patients, or vulnerable people, jobs where the worker could significantly affect the health or safety of others (as set by City regulation), testing required by a federal or state law or regulation or by a federal contract or grant, and workplaces where a collective bargaining agreement addresses pre-hire drug testing. If your roles do not fall in one of those groups, drop the pre-hire marijuana screen.

Paid sick leave, unpaid version, Chapter 9-4100

Philadelphia’s paid sick leave ordinance reaches you from your first hire, but at fewer than 10 employees the leave is unpaid rather than paid. The accrual rules, the 90-day waiting period, and the posting requirement still apply. The next section covers the details, and our Philadelphia paid sick leave article goes deeper on tracking and recordkeeping.

Applies at 10 employees: paid sick leave becomes paid

At 10 or more employees, the sick leave you provide under Chapter 9-4100 must be paid. Under 10, it can be unpaid. One exception: a chain establishment, meaning a location that does business under a trade name used by 15 or more locations, must provide paid sick time at any size. This is the threshold that catches most growing companies.

The counting rule here is specific. Section 9-4103(5) of the code says an employer that employs fewer than 10 employees for at least 40 weeks in a calendar year does not have to provide paid sick time. It must still provide unpaid, job-protected time. For this count, the code includes everyone working for you for pay in a given week, whether full time, part time, or temporary. The City’s 2016 regulations count only employees who work 40 or more hours a year in the city, and updated regulations proposed in 2026 are not final. Because of the 40-week test, the answer turns on the calendar year, not on the day you hire your tenth person. Ask counsel if you are close to 10.

An “employee” who earns sick time under this ordinance is someone who works 40 or more hours a year in Philadelphia. A part-time worker or a suburban employee who comes into the city for a few days a month can qualify. The ordinance leaves out some workers, including independent contractors, seasonal workers hired for 16 weeks or less, people hired for a term of less than 6 months, student interns, and non-probationary employees under a union contract.

The accrual rules are the same whether the leave is paid or unpaid. Employees earn 1 hour of sick time for every 40 hours worked in Philadelphia, up to a 40-hour cap per year. They can start using accrued time after 90 days of employment. The City’s paid sick leave page and the accrual section of the code, Section 9-4104, spell these out.

You must post the paid sick leave notice where employees can see it. If you have an employee handbook, the sick leave policy in it should match the ordinance or exceed it. Many companies already offer more generous paid time off. That may satisfy the rule, but confirm against the code that your policy covers the same uses and accrues at least as fast.

Applies at 50 employees: the commuter transit benefit

Chapter 9-6000 requires larger employers to offer a commuter transit benefit, which lets employees pay for transit or similar commuting costs on a pre-tax basis or receive an employer-paid pass. It took effect December 31, 2022.

The threshold is 50 or more employees who work an average of 30 or more hours a week in Philadelphia, measured over the prior 12 months. Government employers are not covered. Notice how different this count is from paid sick leave. Here only people averaging 30 or more hours a week inside the city count, and the lookback is a full year. A company with a large payroll but only a handful of people working full time in the city may be under this line, though you should confirm against the code.

If you are near 50, start tracking hours by work location now. Most payroll systems can tag a work address to each employee, which makes the count much easier when you need it.

Applies at 250 employees and 30 locations: Fair Workweek

Fair Workweek, Chapter 9-4600, sets scheduling rules for large chain employers in retail, hospitality, and food service. It has been in effect since April 2020. It requires advance schedules, pay for certain last-minute changes, and related protections for hourly workers in those industries.

The threshold is 250 or more employees and 30 or more locations worldwide. Both conditions have to be met, and the count is worldwide, not city-only. A large single-location restaurant is not covered. A national chain with a few Philadelphia stores may be. If you are a franchisee, the counting question gets more complicated, and the City’s Fair Workweek resources page is the place to start.

For most readers of this guide, Fair Workweek does not apply. It is on the list because search results about “Philadelphia employer requirements” often lead with it, and it is worth knowing why it is not your problem.

What the POWER Act added on top of all of them

The POWER Act is a newer city law that strengthens how Philadelphia enforces the worker protection ordinances above. It does not change the headcount thresholds. Instead, it gives the City’s Office of Worker Protections more tools to investigate complaints and pursue employers that break the rules, and it adds notice rules that cover all of the City’s worker protection laws.

The practical effect is that the ordinances in this guide now carry more weight. Rules that were once lightly enforced are getting real attention. The City’s POWER Act page has the law and the Office of Worker Protections’ employer memo. Our article on the Philadelphia POWER Act explains what changed for enforcement and what the new notice requirement means for you.

If you have not looked at your Philadelphia compliance in a couple of years, the POWER Act is the reason to do it now.

Required Philadelphia postings

Philadelphia requires several workplace notices on top of the Pennsylvania and federal posters you already have up. Post them where employees can see them, and share them electronically with remote staff. Here is the current list.

• Paid sick leave notice. Required under Chapter 9-4100 for every covered employer, paid or unpaid tier. Get it from the City’s paid sick leave resources page.
• Wage theft notice. Required under Chapter 9-4300 for all employers. The City publishes the wage theft notice poster as a PDF.
• Wage equity poster. Covers the salary history ban under Section 9-1131. Download the wage equity ordinance poster from PCHR.
• Fair Chance Hiring poster. Covers Ban the Box under Chapter 9-3500. Post it on your website as well as at your workplace. PCHR released an updated Fair Chance Hiring poster on July 15, 2026, after the 2026 amendments.
• Fair Workweek notice. Covered employers only, meaning the large retail, hospitality, and food service chains described above. Available on the City’s Fair Workweek resources page.
• Office of Worker Protections notices. The POWER Act added Section 9-6607, which covers paid sick leave, wage theft, Fair Workweek, and the City’s other worker protection laws. For each one that covers your workers, give each employee the City’s written notice or post it, in English and in any language that is the first language of at least 5 percent of your workforce. The City’s POWER Act page does not list a separate POWER Act poster. The City’s worker protection resources page has the notices.
• Pregnancy accommodation notice. Section 9-1128 requires you to give every new and existing employee written notice of the right to reasonable accommodations for pregnancy, childbirth, and related conditions. You may also post it. Check PCHR’s employer pages for the current version. Heads-up: Philadelphia Bill No. 250849, signed December 3, 2025, adds menstruation, perimenopause, and menopause to the Section 9-1128 accommodation rules starting January 1, 2027, so this notice may change then.

Poster versions change. When the City updates a notice, the old one on your wall no longer counts. Put a yearly reminder on the calendar to re-download each poster and compare it to what is posted.

The full checklist

Work through the group that matches your Philadelphia headcount, and remember that each ordinance counts employees its own way.