How will NY’s new Sick Leave Law affect your business?
On Sept. 30, a new state law – the New York State Sick Leave Law (NYSSL) – went into effect, mandating ALL businesses in New York – regardless of size – offer some amount of sick time to employees.On that same date, employees across the state started accruing this sick time – which can be paid or unpaid depending on business size and revenue – at a rate of one hour per 30 hours worked.
We have a simple question for you – Is your business prepared?
Two of our Chamber Members – Complete Payroll & Paychex – have been fielding many calls from local employers with questions about this new law.
“The way that it’s rolled out, every employee is eligible for the sick time whether they are full-time or part-time,” explained Rob Kropczynski, Regional Manager of Complete Payroll. “If you have a current policy in place that meets or exceeds the new mandate, that’s good. You just need to make sure you’re meeting all of the points.”
So what are the points?
- All employees – full and part-time – started accruing sick time as of Sept. 30 at a rate of one hour per 30 hours worked.
- For businesses with four (4) employees or less, the sick time does not have to be paid. However, if that business makes more than $1 million in revenue, employees must be given up to 40 hours of paid sick time.
- Businesses with five (5) to 99 employees must provide up to 40 hours of accrued paid sick time. If employees accrue more, the business only has to pay for 40 hours. The amount of revenue doesn’t matter.
- Businesses with 100 employees or more must offer 56 hours of paid sick time, regardless of revenue. This applies to non-profit organizations as well.
- Employers can set a minimum number of hours an employee can take in one day, which cannot exceed four (4) hours.
- Employers can ask for sick time requests in writing, but cannot ask for employees to disclose confidential information or the underlying reasons.
- Employers cannot threaten or retaliate against employees who use their sick time.
According to Charlotte Cowley, a Payroll Consultant with Paychex, this sick time can be carried over year to year. “However, employers with fewer than 100 employees may limit an employee’s use of sick leave to 40 hours per year, and employers with 100 or more employees may limit use to 56 hours per year,” she said.
She also said that while employees accrue sick time, an employer can choose to provide their staff with the entire amount of leave at the beginning of the year. Another thing to be aware of is that this law allows employees to use the time for more reasons than just illness.
NYSSL can be used for:
- Employee’s mental or physical illness, or injury, or diagnosis, care, treatment, or preventive care for employee’s mental or physical illness or injury;
- Covered family member’s mental or physical illness or injury or diagnosis, care, treatment, or preventive care for a covered family member’s mental or physical illness or injury;
- Absences related to employee’s status as a victim of domestic violence, family offense, sexual offense, stalking, or human trafficking; or
- Absences related to a covered family member’s status as a victim of domestic violence, family offense, sexual offense, stalking, or human trafficking.
For more information on this law or for a review of your current policy, please feel free to contact representatives from either Complete Payroll or Paychex. Both companies are members of the Greater East Aurora Chamber of Commerce. Contact information can be found below, as can links to more information.
Complete Payroll
Maria Frungillo-French
Account Executive
www.completepayroll.com
mfrungillo-french@completepayroll.com
(607) 661-3477
More information from Complete Payroll on the New York State Sick Leave Law is available on the company’s blog. Here’s a short video to learn more about Maria.
Paychex, Inc.
Charlotte Cowley
Payroll Consultant
www.paychex.com
ccowley@paychex.com
(585) 245-2355
For more information about the law, please check out this article from Paychex.