NY employers brace for late-breaking regs to comply with new paid sick leave law

Many New York employers remain unaware they’re required to implement a new permanent paid sick leave (PSL) benefit this year. The new law, signed in early April, allows employees to start accruing paid (or unpaid) sick leave on September 30, 2020, and will permit them to begin taking it on January 1, 2021. While we’re still waiting on promised regulations from the New York State Department of Labor (NYSDOL), now is the time to amend your paid time off (PTO) policy if it isn’t compliant with the new benefits.

How we got here

In early April 2020, during confusion caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, the New York State Legislature snuck in and passed the PSL benefit. The benefit is in addition to the New York State Quarantine Law (NYS Q-Law) benefit, which provides two weeks of coronavirus-related paid sick leave, and the New York State Paid Family Leave (PFL) Law, which offers up to 12 weeks of paid leave to bond with a new child or care for a family member.

You don’t need to provide any additional PSL if you already maintain a sick leave or other paid leave policy that gives employees the same or greater amount of leave as mandated under the new law and satisfies its specific accrual, carryover, and usage requirements. The implementation will be problematic, however, if you (1) impose a waiting period for new employees or (2) have a “blended” PTO system that doesn’t ensure they get the minimum guaranteed amount of paid (or unpaid) sick leave or allow for the carryover of unused sick leave.

Key factors to consider