On March 18, 2020, Governor Cuomo signed into law paid sick leave legislation to guarantee pay for those under quarantine or isolation due to COVID-19. In our last post we covered everything you need to know about New York’s Paid Sick Leave Law and COVID-19.
In this post, we’re covering the law’s changes to sick leave requirements generally, that is, regardless of whether an employee is subject to quarantine or an isolation order because of COVID-19.
These changes take effect in September 2020.
The new law creates a new section of the Labor Law, called NY Labor Law § 196-b, which will require employers to provide employees with sick leave as follows:
Employees are eligible to receive 40 hours of unpaid sick leave each calendar year.
Employees are eligible to receive 40 hours of paid sick leave each calendar year.
Employees are eligible to receive 40 hours of paid sick leave each calendar year.
Employees are eligible to receive 56 hours of paid sick leave each calendar year.
The new legislation permits employers to define the calendar year, and it can be any consecutive 12-month period.
The sick leave provided by this legislation will accrue at the rate of one hour per 30 hours worked. Unused sick leave can be carried over from year to year; however employers with fewer than 100 employees are permitted to limit the amount of sick leave that can be used in any given calendar year to 40 hours. Employers with 100 or more employees are permitted to limit the amount of sick leave that can be used in any given calendar year to 56 hours.
All leave taken pursuant to Labor Law § 196-b is job protected.
If you’re an employer with questions about how this law impacts your workforce, contact us. Our attorneys would be glad to assist you.
