As we have previously discussed here and here, the New York City Earned Sick Time Act took effect April 1, 2014, requiring employers with five or more workers to provide paid sick leave to all employees who perform more than 80 hours of work in NYC in a calendar year. Employers with fewer than five workers are required to provide comparable unpaid sick leave benefits. Now, almost four months after the law took effect, employers are reminded that all workers who were employed as of April 1 may begin using accrued sick leave, whether paid or unpaid, on July 30, 2014. Employees hired after April 1 may begin using accrued sick leave 120 calendar days after the start of employment.
Employers are also again reminded that they must distribute the requisite Notice of Employee Rights to all new hires upon commencement of employment. Notices must be provided in both English and, if made available by the Department of Consumer Affairs, the employee’s primary language. More information about the Act’s requirements, and copies of the Notice in a multitude of dialects, can be found here.