Don’t Lose Sight of New York State’s Permanent Paid Sick Leave Benefits Law

While most employers were focused on the legal obligations associated with coronavirus-specific laws, the New York State Legislature passed, and the Governor signed, new legislation requiring all private sector employers to provide sick leave (including paid sick leave) to their employees. The new law takes effect 180 days after it was signed into law, or September 30, 2020. The law provides the following benefits to employees of private sector employers:

• Employers with 4 or fewer employees and a net income less than $1 million would be required to provide at least 5 days of unpaid sick leave each year.
• Employers with 5-99 employees, and employers with 4 or fewer employees and a net income greater than $1 million, would be required to provide at least 5 days of paid sick leave each year.
• Employers with 100 or more employees would be required to provide at least 7 days of paid sick leave each year.

Under the new law, employees accrue sick leave at a rate of at least 1 hour per every 30 hours worked. Starting on January 1, 2021, employees will be permitted to begin using accrued sick leave. The leave can be used in relation to a mental or physical illness, injury or health condition of an employee or an employee’s family member. It could also be used for an absence due to any of the following reasons when the employee or employee’s family member has been the victim of domestic violence, a family offense, sexual offense, stalking, or human trafficking:

• to obtain services from a domestic violence shelter, rape crisis center, or other services program;
• to participate in safety planning, to relocate temporarily or permanently, or to take other actions to increase the safety of the employee or employee’s family members;
• to meet with an attorney or other social services provider to obtain information and advice on, and prepare for or participate in, any criminal or civil proceeding;
• to file a complaint or domestic incident report with law enforcement;
• to meet with a district attorney’s office;
• to enroll children in a new school; or
• to take any other actions necessary to ensure the health or safety of the employee or the employee’s family member or to protect those who associate or work with the employee.

Unused sick leave must be carried over to the following year (up to 40 hours for employees with fewer than 100 employees, or 56 hours for larger employers).

If an employer voluntarily provides an equivalent sick leave policy, the employer would not have to provide employees any additional sick leave pursuant to this section.

A collective bargaining agreement entered into on or after the effective date of this section could, in lieu of the leave under this section, provide a comparable benefit in the form of paid days off. The parties could also negotiate terms and conditions of sick leave that are “different” from this section. Unfortunately, at this point, we do not have any guidance from the State about what “different” contract provisions would be considered sufficient. In either case, the agreement would have to specifically acknowledge the provisions of this section.

Employers should be reviewing their policies and procedures to ensure that they are prepared to provide the benefits required by this law beginning January 1, 2021. If you need assistance with policy development or implementing necessary protocols, please do not hesitate to contact us.