New Earned Sick Time Ordinances in City of Newark and Jersey City

Newark Paid Sick Leave Ordinance

The City of Newark also passed a paid sick leave ordinance that takes effect on May 29, 2014. Under the law, all private employers in Newark must provide paid sick time to eligible employees. The amount of paid sick time an employer must provide depends on the number of employees it employs.

What Employers Need to Know

• Employers with ten (10) or more employees in Newark must provide up to forty (40) hours of paid sick leave per year to each employee. Employers with fewer than ten (10) employees in Newark must provide up to 24 hours of paid sick leave per year to each employee.
• Full-time, part-time and seasonal workers who work for more than eighty (80) hours per year in companies that employ ten (10)or more employees are eligible. Freelancers and independent contractors are not eligible.
• Employees who work in the City of Newark for at least eighty (80) hours in one calendar year are eligible to accrue paid sick time.
• Employees who are child care workers, home health care workers and food service workers will be eligible to accrue up to forty (40) hours of paid sick time, regardless of the size of their employer, as long as the hours are accrued in the calendar year.
• Beginning on their first day of employment, eligible employees accrue one hour of paid sick time for every thirty (30) hours actually worked.
• Employees begin to accrue sick leave at the start of employment but may not use accrued sick leave until the 90th day of employment.
• An employee may use accrued sick time under the Newark Ordinance for the same types of absences as under the New York City and Jersey City laws.
• Employees can carryover up to 40 hours of unused accrued paid sick time to the following calendar year.
• Newark employers may loan employees paid sick time in advance of accrual, and may also require that accrued sick time be taken in minimum increments of one  (1) day.
• Employers may limit employees’ use of paid sick time to forty (40) hours in a calendar year and are not required to compensate employees for any unused accrued paid sick time at the cessation of employment.

What Employers Need to Do

Employers must provide all employees with a written notice detailing their rights under the ordinance at the start of their employment or as soon as practicable if the employees are already employed on May 29, 2014. Employers must also provide such notice to all new hires. The notice must be in English and the primary language spoken by the employee if the language is also the primary language of at least 10% of the employer’s workforce.

A notice of rights poster must be posted in a conspicuous and accessible place in the workplace in English and any language that is the first language of at least 10% of the employer’s workforce. The Department is authorized to create posters in English and other languages and then make them available to employers. The Department had not yet made those posters available to the public.

Jersey City Paid Sick Leave Ordinance

On January 24, 2014, the Jersey City Municipal Council passed the Jersey City Earned Sick Time Ordinance (the “JCESTO”) requiring that all local businesses operating in Jersey City with ten (10) or more employees provide up to five (5) paid sick days to their employees each year and that companies with fewer employees provide five (5) unpaid sick days. Many aspects of the JCESTO are similar to the New York City Earned Sick Time Act.

What Employers Need to Know

• Employers with 10 or more employees in Jersey City must provide accrued paid sick time under the Act. Employers with fewer than 10 employees must provide accrued unpaid sick time to their Jersey City employees.
• Full-time, part-time and seasonal workers who work for more than eighty (80) hours per year in companies that employ ten (10) or more employees are eligible. Freelancers and independent contractors are not eligible.
• Eligible employees receive one (1) hour of paid sick leave for each thirty (30) hours worked, with a maximum of forty (40) hours annually, or five days.
• An employee begins accruing sick leave when he/she starts working, but an employer isn’t obligated to give it to him/her until the 90th day on the job.
• An employee may use accrued sick time under the Jersey City Ordinance for the same types of absences as under the New York City Act.
• An employer may require use of accrued sick time in hourly increments or the smallest increment that the employer’s payroll system uses for absences or other use of time.
• An employee can carry over unused accrued sick time into the following year, but the employer may isn’t obligated to allow more than five (4) days or forty (40) annually. An employee is not entitled to be paid for unused accrued sick time upon termination of employment for any reason. City officials included this requirement must reimburse employees for unused time.
• An employer that provides paid leave, including paid time off (PTO), paid vacation or paid personal days, sufficient to meet the accrual and use requirements of the Jersey City Ordinance is not required to provide additional paid sick time.
• Employers are required to maintain records for a period of three (3) years documenting their compliance with the Jersey City Ordinance.

What Employers Need to Do

Employers were required to provide all current employees with written notice of their right to sick leave, including the accrual rate, amount and use of sick time, and rights under the law by January 24, 2014.  Such notice must also be provided to all new hires. All notices must be given in English, or, if the employee’s primary language is other than English, the notice must be given in that language if the Department has made the notice available in that language.

A notice of rights poster must be conspicuously posted in the workplace in English and in any language that is the first language of at least 10% of the employer’s workforce if the Department has made posters available in that language. To download notice of rights posters, please click here http://www.cityofjerseycity.com/business.aspx?id=13851.

This content is provided with the understanding that HR Knowledge is not rendering legal advice.  While every effort is made to provide current information, the law changes regularly and laws may vary depending on the state or municipality. The material is made available for informational purposes only and is not a substitute for legal advice or your professional judgment. You should review applicable law in your jurisdiction and consult experienced counsel for legal advice.  If you have any questions regarding this advisory, please contact HR Knowledge at 508-339 1300 or e-mail us at HR@hrknowledge.com..