NYC’s Paid Sick Leave Law Amended to Match State Requirements

Last month, the New York City Council enacted Int. No 2032-A, aka paid safe and sick leave law, which days later was signed into law by the mayor.

The new law amends the city’s paid sick leave requirements, on the books since 2014, and aligns it with the state’s recently enacted paid sick leave law. The New York state fiscal year 2021 budget legislation establishes a statewide paid sick leave law that requires employers to:

• Allow employees to begin accruing sick leave effective September 30, 2020
• Start providing accrued sick leave to employees effective January 1, 2021.

The mayor’s news release cites, “the law expands paid safe and sick leave to employees of small businesses with four or fewer employees and a net income of more than $1 million. This legislation also expands paid leave for workers at the largest businesses; those with 100 or more employees must now provide up to 56 hours of paid sick leave. It also brings domestic workers in line with other private sector workers by allowing them to accrue and use leave the same as other private sector workers.”

Effective 9/30/20, NYS paid sick leave law requires:

• All Employers with four or fewer employees, allow employees to accrue up to 40 hours of unpaid sick leave (unpaid sick leave converts to paid sick leave if the employer had a net income of greater than $1 million in the previous tax year)
• Any Employer with 5 to 99 employees allows, employees to accrue up to 40 hours of paid sick leave
• Any Employers with 100 or more employees, allow employees to accrue up to 56 hours of paid sick leave
• Effective January 1, 2021, employees newly covered under the amendments must be allowed to use their accrued sick leave.

Additionally, NYC employers must:

• Provide domestic workers with 40 hours of paid safe and sick leave
• Allow employees to use safe and sick leave as it is accrued
• Reimburse employees who must pay for required documentation after three consecutive workdays of leave
• List on employees’ paystubs (or any document issued each pay period) the amounts of accrued and used leave and the total balance of accrued leave

For more details on this law, please visit New York City’s website. Employers may also contact the city at OLPS@dca.nyc.gov with any questions.