Overview of the NYC Earned Sick
Time Act
Effective
Day and Accrual:
Effective April 1st 2014 all employers of 5 or
more employees or an employer of 1 domestic worker must provide paid sick time.
All other employers must provide unpaid sick leave of up to 40 hours. Part time
workers are also covered. Business size will be determined by counting all
workers in a business.
Workers will earn 1 hour of sick time for every 30 hours
worked, up to 40 hours of sick time a calendar year. An employee will be entitled to begin using
sick time on the 120th day of employment or on July 31st
2014 whichever is later.
Eligible
Use of Sick Leave:
Under the Act, sick time may be used for an employee’s own
health needs or to care for a family member (child, spouse, partner, parent,
sibling, grandchild or grandparent, or the child or parent of an employee’s
spouse or partner).
Sick time may also be applied when there is a public health
emergency.
Type
of Paid Leave:
Any type of paid leave – paid time off, vacation, personal
days, etc will count for purposes of complying with the law as long as they can
be used for sick leave.
Employee
Notice & Documentation:
An employer may require reasonable notice of planned use of
sick time & may require an employee to provide notice of unforeseeable use
of sick time as soon as practicable. A note signed by a licensed health care
provider indicating the need for the sick time taken is considered reasonable.
An employer may not demand documentation specifying the nature of the
employee’s injury, illness or condition.
Employers may disciple employees who attempt to use sick
time for improper absences.
The Department of Consumer Affairs is charged with enforcing
the Act. Employers are required to retain records documenting their compliance
with the act for three years. Employers of between 6 and 19 employees will have
a grace period for violations until October 1st, 2014.
This is modified from the original law that was passed only a few months ago
