Need to Know: New York City Amendments to Paid Sick Leave Law

Amendments to New York City’s paid sick leave law to include paid safe time became effective on May 5, 2018. The revised law expands the city’s paid sick leave law to allow workers to use paid leave to address safety concerns and access critical services related to specified criminal offenses.

The amended law also expands the definition of family for whom safe and sick leave can be used to any individual whose close association with the employee is the equivalent of family.

Employers of five or more employees who work more than 80 hours in a calendar year in New York City are required to provide paid sick leave. 

Below are the details under the new amendments:

• Employers must allow employees to use their accrued sick leave to seek assistance or take other safety measures if the employee or a family member of the employee is a victim of any act or threat of domestic violence or unwanted sexual physical contact, stalking, or human trafficking.
• Employees must accrue safe and sick leave at the rate of one hour per 30 hours worked, up to a maximum of 40 hours of leave per year.
• Employers may choose to “frontload” the 40 hours of leave at the beginning of the employer’s calendar year. The beginning and end of the employer’s calendar year must be shown on the mandatory notice given to employees.
  • If the employer chooses not to frontload sick leave, up to 40 hours of an employee’s unused safe and sick leave must be carried over to the next calendar year.
  • Employers are only required to let employees use up to 40 hours of safe and sick leave per year.
• Employees must be paid safe and sick leave at their regular rate of pay.
• New employees begin accruing safe and sick leave on the first day of employment, and must be able to begin using the accrued safe and sick leave by 120 days after beginning employment.

Employees who work for employers who must provide safe and sick leave must receive this written notice from their employer when they begin employment or by June 4, 2018, whichever is later.

For more information on New York City’s paid safe and sick leave law, see the law’s website, call 311 within New York City or 212.639.9675 outside of the city, or email PaidSickLeave@dca.nyc.gov.