Legal Updates

Mandated Paid Sick Leave For Employees: NYC And Beyond

December 2014

Employers should be aware that many jurisdictions have enacted measures requiring certain employers to provide employees with paid sick time, and similar laws have been proposed elsewhere. For example, under an ordinance that went into effect this past April, most employees working in New York City are entitled to paid sick leave. The ordinance requires that eligible employees be provided at least 40 hours of paid sick time per year.

Similarly, in last month’s election, Massachusetts voters approved a new law under which, beginning next July, employers with eleven or more employees will need to provide all employees with up to 40 hours of paid sick time annually, while smaller employers will need to provide the same amount of sick time on an unpaid basis. (A recent article by Schwartz Hannum summarizing the new Massachusetts law can be found here.)

Thus, employers should carefully monitor these developments and ensure that they are in compliance with all applicable laws.

Summary Of New York City Ordinance

The most significant portions of the New York City paid sick leave ordinance are summarized below:

Eligibility. Employers with five or more employees (or with one or more domestic workers) must provide up to 40 hours of paid sick time annually to employees who work in the city at least 80 hours in a year. Eligible employees must be allowed to accrue at least one hour of paid sick time for each 30 hours worked. Eligible employees are entitled to accrue paid sick time immediately upon commencing employment, but need not be permitted to take paid sick time until they have been employed for 120 days.

Use Of Paid Sick Time. An eligible employee may use accrued paid sick time for any of the following purposes:

For the employee’s own mental or physical illness, injury or health condition, or for preventive medical care for the employee;
To assist a family member (defined as a child, spouse, domestic partner, parent, sibling, grandchild or grandparent, or the child or parent of an employee’s spouse or domestic partner) who needs care for a mental or physical illness, injury or health condition, or preventive medical care; or
When an employee’s place of business has been closed by order of a public official due to a public health emergency, or when an employee needs to care for a child whose school or day-care facility has been closed due to such an order.

Notice. An employer may require reasonable notice of an employee’s intention to use paid sick time, including up to seven days’ notice when the need for leave is foreseeable. Further, an employer may require reasonable documentation (e.g., a doctor’s note) to confirm that paid sick leave is being taken for an appropriate reason. However, an employer may not require an employee to disclose the nature of the illness, injury or condition for which leave is being taken.

Carryover/Payout. Employers may either (i) pay out accrued, unused sick time to their employees annually, or (ii) permit employees to carry over accrued, unused sick time from year to year. Carryover from year to year may be capped at 40 hours. Employers are not required to pay employees for accrued, unused sick time upon separation from employment.

Notice Of Rights. Employers must distribute a written notice to employees detailing their rights under the ordinance. The New York City Department of Consumer Affairs has published the required notice on its website.

Recordkeeping. Employers are required to keep records documenting their compliance with the ordinance for at least three years.

Penalties. Employers violating the ordinance may be subject to civil penalties, damages, and equitable relief.

Other Paid Sick Leave Laws

In addition to New York City, a number of other jurisdictions across the United States have enacted paid sick leave laws over the past several years. For instance:

Massachusetts. Under the new Massachusetts law, which becomes effective July 1, 2015, employers with eleven or more employees will be required to permit all employees (including part-time, temporary, occasional, and seasonal workers) to accrue and use up to 40 hours of paid sick time per calendar year. Employees will be entitled to accrue a minimum of one hour of paid sick time for each 30 hours worked. For employers with fewer than eleven employees, these same requirements will apply, except that employers will be permitted to provide sick time on an unpaid basis.
Newark, N.J. Under an ordinance enacted earlier this year, most private-sector employers are required to provide paid sick leave to employees who work in Newark for at least 80 hours in a calendar year. Depending on how many employees they have, employers must provide employees with up to either 24 or 40 hours of paid sick leave annually.
Jersey City, N.J. Employers with at least ten employees are required to provide up to 40 hours of paid sick leave annually to employees who work at least 80 hours within Jersey City in a year.
Portland, Ore. Employers with six or more employees must provide up to 40 hours of paid sick leave annually to employees who work at least 240 hours within Portland in a year.
Washington, D.C. Under an ordinance enacted in 2008, all employers located within the District of Columbia must provide employees with paid sick leave. The amount of paid sick leave that must be provided annually ranges from three to seven days, depending on how many employees an employer has. Notably, under a 2014 amendment to the ordinance, employees no longer need to be employed for a certain period of time or work a minimum number of hours in order to be covered.
Seattle, Wash. Under a Seattle ordinance, employers with at least five full-time equivalent employees must offer paid sick and safe time to employees who work more than 240 hours within the city during a calendar year. (“Safe time” refers to leave taken for certain reasons related to domestic violence, stalking, or sexual assault, or because of the closing of an employee’s workplace or a child’s school or day-care facility due to a health hazard.) Depending on the size of an employer’s workforce, employees must be allowed to accrue up to 72 hours of paid sick and safe time annually.
Connecticut. A Connecticut statute requires most employers that have 50 or more employees in the state to allow “service workers” to accrue up to 40 hours of paid sick leave per year.
Philadelphia, Pa. Under a Philadelphia ordinance, certain categories of employers must provide employees with up to either 32 or 56 hours of paid sick leave per year, depending on how many employees they have.
San Francisco, Cal. Finally, a San Francisco ordinance requires all employers to provide employees with at least one hour of paid sick leave for each 30 hours worked within the city, up to a limit of either 40 or 72 hours, depending on the size of an employer’s workforce.

Please note that the laws summarized above are not intended to be a comprehensive listing of all paid sick leave laws currently in effect in the United States. Employers should determine, in consultation with counsel, whether any other such laws apply to them.

Recommendations For Employers

In light of the New York City paid sick leave ordinance and the recent trend of similar laws in other jurisdictions, there are a number of important steps we recommend employers take:

Consult with counsel to ensure your organization is in compliance with all applicable paid sick leave requirements;
Provide training to managers, HR employees, and payroll personnel regarding any such requirements;
Work with counsel to review, and update as necessary, your organization’s written policies, employee handbooks, and other personnel documents to comply with such laws; and
Closely monitor changes in the law for further developments in this area.

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Please contact us if you have any questions regarding the New York City paid sick leave ordinance or similar requirements in other jurisdictions. We regularly counsel employers on such matters, and we would welcome the opportunity to assist you.