{"id":18609,"date":"2019-06-11T10:15:31","date_gmt":"2019-06-11T14:15:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gtm.com\/household\/?p=18609"},"modified":"2020-04-08T13:47:47","modified_gmt":"2020-04-08T17:47:47","slug":"westchester-county-safe-leave-time-law","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gtm.com\/household\/westchester-county-safe-leave-time-law\/","title":{"rendered":"Westchester County Enacts Safe Leave Time Law"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"safe-leave-time-law-westchester\"

Like it’s recently passed Earned Sick Leave Law, Westchester County’s Safe Leave Time Law applies to families who have hired household help. Here’s how household employers can comply with the new law.<\/p><\/div>\n

Just weeks after its Earned Sick Leave Law (ESLL)<\/a> took effect, Westchester County in New York enacted a Safe Leave Time Law (SLTL).<\/p>\n

The new law, which will go into effect around October 30, 2019, requires employers to provide eligible employees with paid leave to be used for reasons relating to domestic violence or human trafficking.<\/p>\n

Instead of including \u201csafe time\u201d as a reason to take paid sick leave, Westchester County decided to pass SLTL, which allows for 40 hours of paid leave above and beyond any sick leave provided by ESLL.<\/p>\n

Families who have hired household help in Westchester County are included in the covered employers who must provide safe leave to full- and part-time employees who have worked for more than 90 days in a calendar year.<\/p>\n

Safe leave can be used your employees who are victims of domestic violence or human trafficking in order to attend and\/or testify in criminal and\/or civil court proceedings related to domestic violence or human trafficking. It can also be used to move to a safe location.<\/p>\n

Eligible employees are entitled to take up to 40 hours of paid leave under SLTL. The law doesn\u2019t allow carryover of used time into the next year. Time can be used in \u201cfull days and\/or increments.\u201d<\/p>\n

Unlike ESLL, the safe leave law appears to restrict the use of paid safe leave to an employee\u2019s own instances of domestic violence or human trafficking and not to attend to such instances of family members.<\/p>\n

You must provide paid safe leave upon your employee\u2019s request. The law doesn\u2019t contain an accrual provision. An employee must make a good faith attempt to provide you with advanced notice when requesting leave.<\/p>\n

You can require \u201creasonable documentation\u201d that paid safe leave was used for a permissible reason. Employees may provide any one of the following:<\/p>\n