The New York City Paid Sick Leave Law
New York, NY (PRWEB) July 31, 2013 -- Our employment lawyers at OlenderFeldman LLP have received a number of questions about the impact of New York City's New Paid Sick Leave Law. As we often stress, simple employment mistakes are often quite costly to fix so it is important to ensure compliance with the law from its onset. Our Howard A. Matalon has summarized the important aspects of the law that you need to know about. Of course, we will continue to provide updates on OlenderFeldman's blog regarding important legal developments.
Effective April 1, 2014, businesses (located anywhere) with a New York City office that have 20 or more employees working out of such office are required to provide five paid sick days per calendar year to their employees under the new New York City Paid Sick Leave Law. (The law will expand to employers with 15 or more employees starting October 1, 2015.) Businesses with fewer employees working out of an office in New York City do not have to provide paid sick time, but must allow their employees five unpaid sick days.
The New York City Paid Sick Leave law applies to all employees whether full-time, part-time, temporary or seasonal, as long as they work more than 80 hours in a calendar year.
It does not matter whether the principal location of the business is in New York City. The law applies to any business as long as the business has employees based out of a location in New York City. Employers with offices in different states need only accommodate employees working in New York City with the leave time required under this law.
The law is unique in that it allows employees to use sick time not only for their own illness, injury or health condition, but also the illness, injury or health condition of a family member. The law also permits use of sick time if the place of business is closed due to a health emergency or if the employee must take care of a child whose school or care provider has been closed under similar circumstances.
Notably, the law does not require the full five days to be provided automatically to new employees. New employees can be required to work at least four months before they can use the sick days. Employees will accrue one hour of sick time for every 30 hours worked, and are entitled to 40 hours per calendar year. Although the five days carry over from year to year if accrued but unused, employers can limit the usage of sick time by employees to 40 hours per calendar year.
The law does protect employers from potential abuses of sick time. Employers are entitled to insist on reasonable documentation for sick time lasting more than three consecutive work days.
Employers who already provide at least five days of leave time (40 hours per calendar year) under existing policies are not required to provide additional sick time. However, they must ensure that their sick leave policies are consistent with the breadth and scope of the new law.
All New York City businesses will be required to provide employees with written notice of rights under the new law at the commencement of employment.
We would be happy to supply further information regarding New York City's Paid Sick Leave Law. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact Howard A. Matalon, Esq. at 908-964-2424.
OlenderFeldman LLP is a full-service law firm providing customized business, employment,, financial, technology, ecommerce and internet, privacy, intellectual property and litigation services. We work with diverse clients ranging from startups to multinationals, and can tailor solutions to fit your business needs.
Aaron Messing, Esq., CIPP, OlenderFeldman LLP, http://www.olenderfeldman.com, (908) 624-6293, [email protected]
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