Everything You Need to Know About New York State Paid Sick Leave

Eligible employees in New York State are entitled to accrue protected sick leave. The New York Department of Labor (NYDOL) provides a helpful FAQ.

The NYDOL released regulations implementing the Sick Leave law. The regulations provide in-depth specifics about the law’s application. The regulations provide definitions and additional information on documentation, employee counts, and accruals.

Note: New York City has its own mandatory sick leave law. If there is a conflict between state and local law, employees are generally entitled to whichever requirements are more favorable to them.

New York State also requires employers to offer COVID-related sick leave.

New York State Paid Sick Leave

Covered Employers

The law applies to all employers in New York State.

New York State Paid Sick Leave Eligibility

All employees in New York State are generally eligible for sick leave, regardless of industry, occupation, part-time status, and overtime-exempt status.

Reasons for New York State Paid Sick Leave

Following a verbal or written request to their employer, eligible employees may use accrued leave for the following permitted uses:

• Sick Leave:
  • An employee’s – or their family member’s – mental or physical illness, injury, or health condition, regardless of whether the illness, injury or health condition has been diagnosed or requires medical care at the time the employee requests leave; or
  • The diagnosis, care, or treatment of a mental or physical illness, injury, or health condition, or the need for medical diagnosis or preventive care for the employee or the employee’s family member.
• Safe Leave:
  • An absence from work due to any of the following reasons when the employee or employee’s family member has been the victim of domestic violence, a family offense, a sexual offense, stalking, or human trafficking, to:
    • Obtain services from a domestic violence shelter, rape crisis center, or other services program;
    • Participate in safety planning, relocate, or other actions to increase their or their family member’s safety;
    • Meet with an attorney or other social services provider to obtain information and advice on, prepare for, or participate in any criminal or civil proceeding;
    • File a complaint or domestic incident report with law enforcement;
    • Meet with a district attorney’s office;
    • Enroll children in a new school; or
    • Take any other actions necessary to ensure their own or a family member’s health or safety or to protect those who associate or work with the employee.

Note: Employees are not entitled to safe leave if they committed a domestic violence crime.

For purposes of the law:

• Family member means an employee’s child, spouse, domestic partner, parent, sibling, grandchild, or grandparent, and the child or parent of an employee’s spouse or domestic partner.
• Parent means a biological, foster, step, adoptive parent, or legal guardian of an employee, or a person who assumed parental responsibility for the employee when they were a minor child.
• Child means a biological, adopted, or foster child, a legal ward, or a child for whom the employee assumed parental responsibility.

Amount of New York State Paid Sick Leave

Employers must provide sick leave benefits as follows:

• Employers with four or fewer employees in any calendar year must provide up to 40 hours of unpaid sick leave to each employee per calendar year. However, if these employers have a net income of greater than one million dollars (in the previous tax year) then these employers must provide up to 40 hours of paid leave;
• Employers with between five and 99 employees in any calendar year must provide up to 40 hours of paid sick leave to each employee per calendar year; and
• Employers with 100 or more employees in any calendar year must provide up to 56 hours of paid sick leave to each employee per calendar year.

For determining employee count, a calendar year is the 12-month period from January 1 through December 31. For all other purposes, a calendar year is either the 12-month period from January 1 through December 31 or a regular and consecutive 12-month period, as determined by the employer.

An employer may provide an amount of paid or unpaid sick leave in excess of these requirements, and they may adopt a paid leave policy that provides additional benefits to employees.

New York State Paid Sick Leave Accrual and Use

Employees must accrue sick leave at the commencement of employment at a rate of one hour per every 30 hours worked.

Employers may require leave to be used in increments (for instance, 15 minutes, one hour, etc.) but may not set the minimum increment at more than four hours. Employees must receive compensation at their regular rate of pay, or the applicable minimum wage, whichever is greater, for the use of paid sick leave.

Frontloading

Employers may frontload the entire amount of required sick leave at the beginning of the calendar year. However, employers may not reduce or revoke any frontloaded sick leave if, for instance, the employee works fewer hours than anticipated by the employer.

Carryover and Use Caps

Unused sick leave carries over to the following calendar year, with the following use caps:

• Employers with fewer than 100 employees may limit the use of sick leave to 40 hours per calendar year; and
• Employers with 100 or more employees may limit the use of sick leave to 56 hours per calendar year.

Employers may limit the leave taken in any year to the maximum amount required to be provided to an employee (for instance, 40 hours for midsized employers and 56 hours for large employers). However, any limitations permitted by the law must be in writing and either posted or given to employees. Additionally, employers must notify employees in writing or by posting a notice at the worksite, prior to the leave being earned, of any restrictions in their leave policy affecting the employees’ use of leave, including any limitations on leave increments.

Note: The terms of carryover differ between New York State law and New York City’s law. See Municipal Sick Leave: New York City.

Confidentiality and Employee Documentation

Employers are prohibited from requiring employees to disclose their or their family member’s confidential information relating to a mental or physical illness, injury, or health condition, or information relating to absence from work due to domestic violence, a sexual offense, stalking, or human trafficking, as a condition of providing sick leave.

According to the regulations (Title 12 N.Y. Comp Codes, R & Regs. 196-1.3), an employer cannot require an employee to provide medical or other verification in connection with sick leave that lasts less than three consecutive previously scheduled workdays or shifts.

An employer may request documentation from an employee confirming their eligibility to take sick leave when the employee uses leave for three or more consecutive and previously scheduled workdays or shifts. An employer cannot require an employee or the person providing documentation, including medical professionals, to disclose the reason for leave, except as required by law. Requests for documentation must be limited to an attestation from:

• A licensed medical provider supporting the existence of a need for sick leave, the amount of leave needed, and a date that the employee may return to work; or
• An employee of their eligibility to leave.

Compensation

Employees must be paid their regular rate of pay, or the applicable minimum wage, whichever is greater, for their paid leave time. No allowances or credits (for instance, tip credits) may be claimed for paid leave hours, and employers are prohibited from reducing an employee’s rate of pay for sick leave hours only.

Leave Statement

Upon an employee’s verbal or written request, employers must provide a summary of the sick leave amounts they accrued and used in the current calendar year and/or any previous calendar year. Employers must provide this information to the employee within three business days of their request.

Pre-Existing Leave Policy

Employers are not required to provide any additional sick leave if they have a pre-existing sick leave or time off policy that provides employees with an amount of leave that meets or exceeds legal requirements and satisfies the accrual, carryover, and use requirements.

Right to Reinstatement

Employees must be restored to the position they held prior to taking sick leave (with the same pay, terms, and conditions of employment) upon return from sick leave.

Upon Termination

Employers are not required to pay an employee for unused sick leave upon their termination, resignation, retirement, or other separation from employment.

Retaliation

An employer and all other individuals are prohibited from discharging, threatening, penalizing, discriminating, or retaliating against an employee because they exercised their rights under this law, including, but not limited to, requesting and using sick leave.

Recordkeeping

Employers must keep payroll records for six years which must include the amount of sick leave accrued and used by each employee on a weekly basis.

Let GTM Handle Your New York State Paid Sick Leave Administration

Between this sick leave law, FMLA, ADA accommodations, and all types of employee leave, managing your leave administration can be a time-consuming and complex task. Why not outsource it to experts who can take care of everything from eligibility, leave requests, and payments to back-to-work support and more? GTM’s leave specialists will take the burden off your plate so you can focus on running your business. Download our guide to outsourcing leave management, then fill out the brief form below to get more information.