New York has amended its sick leave law (Labor Law § 196-b) to provide paid prenatal personal leave to all employees. Effective January 1, 2025, all employers shall be required to provide their employees with 20 hours of paid prenatal personal leave per 52-week period. Prenatal personal leave is leave taken by an employee “during
On September 30, 2020, section 196-b of the New York State Labor Law went into effect. The legislation, which provides for the immediate accrual of employer-provided sick leave, permits sick leave to be taken beginning on January 1, 2021. We wrote about the New York State Paid Sick Leave law previously, and have outlined the situations under which it must be provided to employees. Like New York City’s paid sick leave entitlements, the law applies to absences related to an employee’s status as a victim of domestic violence, family offense, sexual offense, stalking, or human trafficking. For a complete list of reasons and more detail about the accrual of sick leave, take a look at our prior blog.
Continue Reading New York State Paid Sick Leave Law Now in Effect
For the last several weeks, the Department of Labor has periodically updated its Families First Coronavirus Response Act: (FFCRA) “Questions and Answers” page by illustrating real-world applications of the FFCRA. We covered previous updates on March 31, 2020 and March 25, 2020. The most recent updates – questions 80-88 – illustrate common issues in computing employee hour and pay entitlements under the FFCRA, among others.
Continue Reading Department of Labor Updates Families First Coronavirus Response Act Q&A Guidance on Calculating Leave Entitlements
On April 3, 2020, Governor Cuomo signed the 2021 New York State budget, which included paid sick leave for employees in New York State. Yes – paid sick leave that can be taken for normal, non-pandemic illnesses, among other reasons.
While society remains upended by COVID-19, Governor Cuomo stated, “we have to be able to walk and chew gum. We have to move forward at the same time and that’s why passing the budget and these pieces of legislation were important.” State-wide sick leave – which surely would have received more attention but for immediate COVID-19 related concerns – requires New York employers to review their paid time off and sick leave policies.Continue Reading Permanent Paid Sick Leave Coming to New York State in 2021
On the heels of the federal Families First Coronavirus Response Act signed into law yesterday, New York State has enacted broad legislation extending paid sick leave benefits to employees. The extent of paid sick leave is determined by employer size and revenue, and can be utilized by employees whether they are sick, or absent from work because of a “mandatory or precautionary order of quarantine or isolation” issued by “the state of New York, the department of health, local board of health, or any government entity duly authorized to issue such order due to COVID-19.”
Continue Reading New York State Passes Expanded Sick Leave in Battle Against COVID-19
As people everywhere struggle to adjust to the rapid changes caused by the COVID-19 outbreak, the financial impact on businesses and employees has been a primary concern. Employees are facing reduced work hours and layoffs as businesses scale back or close. At the same time, employees are dealing with the reality of a serious health threat to themselves and family members. The scale of disruption to the normal functioning of businesses and to people’s lives is unprecedented.
Continue Reading “Families First Coronavirus Relief Act” Expands Family and Medical Leave Act and Mandates Paid Sick Leave