Earlier this year, New York State enacted a paid sick leave requirement for employers statewide. All employers are required, as of September 30, 2020, to begin recording accruals for paid sick leave for every employee. However, employees will not be eligible to use the accrued time, which carries over from year to year, until January 1, 2021, and thereafter.
An employee accrues sick leave benefits at a rate of one hour for every 30 hours worked, and the minimum hours that an employee may use each year are determined based on employer size and income, as follows:
| Provision |
NY State Law*
(Effective September 30, 2020) |
| Employer Size/Sick Leave Benefit |
1–4 employees |
40 hours unpaid sick leave |
| 1–4 employees and greater than $1 million in employer net income (prior tax year) |
40 hours paid sick leave |
| 5–99 employees |
40 hours paid sick leave |
| 100 or more employees |
56 hours paid sick leave |
| Eligible Use/Related Notes |
- Mental or physical illness, injury, or health condition of employee or family member.
- Diagnosis, care or treatment of a mental or physical illness, injury, or health condition of employee or family member.
- Domestic violence services and assistance for employee or family member.
- “Family member” includes employee’s child, spouse, domestic partner, parent, sibling, grandchild or grandparent, and the child or parent of employee’s spouse or domestic partner.
- Employers may set a reasonable minimum daily increment for the use of sick leave of no greater than 4 hours.
|
* For more background, see https://www.manatt.com/insights/newsletters/employment-law-tip-of-the-month/new-york-state-enacts-new-non-covid-sick-leave-ent.
This paid sick leave benefit is separate from the COVID-19-specific paid sick leave benefit for employees quarantining in accordance with a mandatory or precautionary order, which went into effect on March 18, 2020. Further, while New York City has amended its Earned Safe and Sick Time Act to align with the new state requirements, other municipalities’ paid sick leave laws should be reviewed for differences from the state law.
Manatt will continue to monitor developments and guidance as it is issued, and we will provide additional information as it becomes available.