New York City Earned Sick Time Act Expanded

Author: Melissa Burdorf, XpertHR Legal Editor

March 13, 2014

On February 26, 2014, New York City Council passed an amendment that considerably expands the scope of New York City Earned Sick Time Act (the ESTA), a law passed last year and that is effective on April 1, 2014. The amended law's biggest change requires that an employee may now be eligible for paid sick leave if he or she works in NYC for more than 80 hours for an employer with five or more employees. Under the current law an employer must have at least 15 employees.

In addition to expanding the employee eligibility criteria, the amended law will also:

  • Eliminate the phasing in of coverage for the paid leave requirement (current law delays coverage for employees of employers with 15 to 19 employees until 2015). Therefore, all employers with five or more NYC employees will need to provide paid leave as of April 1, 2014;
  • Eliminate the manufacturing sector exemption (current law exempts certain employers in the manufacturing sector from the law's requirements);
  • Add grandparents, grandchildren and siblings (including half, step and adopted siblings) to the list of family members that an employee can use their sick time to care for;
  • Provide a six-month grace period (i.e., April 1, 2014 to October 1, 2014) during which employers in the manufacturing sector and those with five to 19 employees would not be subject to ESTA civil fines for unintentional violations. This clause was included to ease the burden on many small businesses that are not required to provide paid sick leave under the current law;
  • Increase record retention requirements for employers from two to three years;
  • Increase the time for an employee to file a complaint from 270 days to two years;
  • Require a person/entity identified in a complaint filed with New York City's Department of Consumer Affairs (the Department) to submit a written response to the complaint within 30 days of written notification by the Department;
  • Require employers to provide current and new employees with written notice of their rights under the ESTA by May 1, 2014. The notice must include the accrual and use of sick leave, the applicable calendar year, the right to be free from retaliation and the right to file a complaint with the Department;
  • Require employment and placement agencies for domestic employees to provide a notice of rights under the ESTA to both the employee and the employer family prior to placement; and
  • Give the Mayor authority to designate an agency other than the Department of Consumer Affairs to handle complaints and otherwise enforce the law.

All that stands between the expanded ESTA, which will impact over 500,000 New Yorkers, is New York City's Mayor Bill de Blasio's expected signature. Therefore, in anticipation of the Mayor's signature, a New York employer should:

  • Start reviewing employee rosters to see which employees, if any, will be covered by the law (i.e., those who work in NYC for 80 or more hours in a year);
  • Prepare the required notice and continue to check the City's Department of Consumer Affairs site for a model notice;
  • Create recordkeeping form and/or procedure;
  • Review any existing PTO, attendance and/or sick leave policies to ensure compliance with the ESTA (e.g., ensure leave policies provide the same amount of leave and have the same terms and conditions);
  • Train HR, managers and supervisors on the requirements of the new law; and
  • Ensure time and payroll records are set up to reflect the amount of sick leave accrued and used by employees.

There are various efforts to require paid sick leave in other US states and municipalities, which appears to reflect a trend. For example, the Newark, NJ sick leave law was just signed the end of January.