§ 196-B — Sick leave requirements

§ 196-b. Sick leave requirements. 1. Every employer shall be required\nto provide its employees with sick leave as follows:\n a. For employers with four or fewer employees in any calendar year,\neach employee shall be provided with up to forty hours of unpaid sick\nleave in each calendar year; provided, however, an employer that employs\nfour or fewer employees in any calendar year and that has a net income\nof greater than one million dollars in the previous tax year shall\nprovide each employee with up to forty hours of paid sick leave pursuant\nto this section;\n b. For employers with between five and ninety-nine employees in any\ncalendar year, each employee shall be provided with up to forty hours of\npaid sick leave in each calendar year; and\n c. For employers with one hundred or more employees in any calendar\nyear, each employee shall be provided with up to fifty-six hours of paid\nsick leave each calendar year.\n For purposes of determining the number of employees pursuant to this\nsubdivision, a calendar year shall mean the twelve-month period from\nJanuary first through December thirty-first. For all other purposes, a\ncalendar year shall either mean the twelve-month period from January\nfirst through December thirty-first, or a regular and consecutive\ntwelve-month period, as determined by an employer.\n 2. Nothing in this section shall be construed to prohibit or prevent\nan employer from providing an amount of sick leave, paid or unpaid, or\npaid prenatal personal leave which is in excess of the requirements set\nforth in subdivision one and subdivision four-a of this section, or from\nadopting a paid leave policy that provides additional benefits to\nemployees. An employer may elect to provide its employees with the total\namount of sick leave required to fulfill its obligations pursuant to\nsubdivision one of this section at the beginning of the calendar year,\nprovided, however that no employer shall be permitted to reduce or\nrevoke any such sick leave based on the number of hours actually worked\nby an employee during the calendar year if such employer elects pursuant\nto this subdivision.\n 3. Employees shall accrue sick leave at a rate of not less than one\nhour per every thirty hours worked, beginning at the commencement of\nemployment or the effective date of this section, whichever is later,\nsubject to the use and accrual limitations set forth in this section.\n 4. a. On and after January first, two thousand twenty-one and upon the\noral or written request of an employee, an employer shall provide\naccrued sick leave for the following purposes:\n (i) for a mental or physical illness, injury, or health condition of\nsuch employee or such employee's family member, regardless of whether\nsuch illness, injury, or health condition has been diagnosed or requires\nmedical care at the time that such employee requests such leave;\n (ii) for the diagnosis, care, or treatment of a mental or physical\nillness, injury or health condition of, or need for medical diagnosis\nof, or preventive care for, such employee or such employee's family\nmember; or\n (iii) for an absence from work due to any of the following reasons\nwhen the employee or employee's family member has been the victim of\ndomestic violence pursuant to subdivision thirty-four of section two\nhundred ninety-two of the executive law, a family offense, sexual\noffense, stalking, or human trafficking:\n (a) to obtain services from a domestic violence shelter, rape crisis\ncenter, or other services program;\n (b) to participate in safety planning, temporarily or permanently\nrelocate, or take other actions to increase the safety of the employee\nor employee's family members;\n (c) to meet with an attorney or other social services provider to\nobtain information and advice on, and prepare for or participate in any\ncriminal or civil proceeding;\n (d) to file a complaint or domestic incident report with law\nenforcement;\n (e) to meet with a district attorney's office;\n (f) to enroll children in a new school; or\n (g) to take any other actions necessary to ensure the health or safety\nof the employee or the employee's family member or to protect those who\nassociate or work with the employee.\n For purposes of this subdivision, the reasons outlined above in\nsubparagraph (a) through (g) must be related to the domestic violence,\nfamily offense, sexual offense, stalking, or human trafficking. Provided\nfurther that a person who has committed such domestic violence, family\noffense, sexual offense, stalking, or human trafficking shall not be\neligible for leave under this subdivision for situations in which the\nperson committed such offense and was not a victim, notwithstanding any\nfamily relationship.\n b. For purposes of this section, "family member" shall mean an\nemployee's child, spouse, domestic partner, parent, sibling, grandchild\nor grandparent; and the child or parent of an employee's spouse or\ndomestic partner. "Parent" shall mean a biological, foster, step- or\nadoptive parent, or a legal guardian of an employee, or a person who\nstood in loco parentis when the employee was a minor child. "Child"\nshall mean a biological, adopted or foster child, a legal ward, or a\nchild of an employee standing in loco parentis.\n 4-a. In addition to the sick leave provided for in this section, on\nand after January first, two thousand twenty-five, every employer shall\nbe required to provide to its employees twenty hours of paid prenatal\npersonal leave during any fifty-two week calendar period. Paid prenatal\npersonal leave shall mean leave taken for the health care services\nreceived by an employee during their pregnancy or related to such\npregnancy, including physical examinations, medical procedures,\nmonitoring and testing, and discussions with a health care provider\nrelated to the pregnancy. Paid prenatal personal leave may be taken in\nhourly increments. Benefits for paid prenatal personal leave shall be\npaid in hourly installments. Employees shall receive compensation at the\nemployee's regular rate of pay, or the applicable minimum wage\nestablished pursuant to section six hundred fifty-two of this chapter,\nwhichever is greater, for the use of paid prenatal personal leave.\nNothing in this section shall be construed to require an employer to pay\nan employee for unused paid prenatal leave upon such employee's\ntermination, resignation, retirement, or other separation from\nemployment.\n 5. a. An employer may not require the disclosure of confidential\ninformation relating to a mental or physical illness, injury, or health\ncondition of such employee or such employee's family member, or\ninformation relating to absence from work due to domestic violence, a\nsexual offense, stalking, or human trafficking, as a condition of\nproviding sick leave or paid prenatal personal leave pursuant to this\nsection.\n b. An employer may set a reasonable minimum increment for the use of\nsick leave which shall not exceed four hours. Employees shall receive\ncompensation at his or her regular rate of pay, or the applicable\nminimum wage established pursuant to section six hundred fifty-two of\nthis chapter, whichever is greater, for the use of paid sick leave.\n 6. An employee's unused sick leave shall be carried over to the\nfollowing calendar year, provided, however, that: (i) an employer with\nfewer than one hundred employees may limit the use of sick leave to\nforty hours per calendar year; and (ii) an employer with one hundred or\nmore employees may limit the use of sick leave to fifty-six hours per\ncalendar year. Nothing in this section shall be construed to require an\nemployer to pay an employee for unused sick leave upon such employee's\ntermination, resignation, retirement, or other separation from\nemployment.\n 7. No employer or their agent, or the officer or agent of any\ncorporation, partnership, or limited liability company, or any other\nperson, shall discharge, threaten, penalize, or in any other manner\ndiscriminate or retaliate against any employee because such employee has\nexercised their rights afforded under this section, including, but not\nlimited to, requesting sick leave or paid prenatal leave and using sick\nleave or paid prenatal leave, consistent with the provisions of section\ntwo hundred fifteen of this chapter.\n 8. An employer shall not be required to provide any additional sick\nleave pursuant to this section if the employer has adopted a sick leave\npolicy or time off policy that provides employees with an amount of\nleave which meets or exceeds the requirements set forth in subdivision\none of this section and satisfies the accrual, carryover, and use\nrequirements of this section.\n 9. Nothing in this section shall be construed to: a. prohibit a\ncollective bargaining agreement entered into, on or after the effective\ndate of this section from, in lieu of the leave provided for in this\nsection, providing a comparable benefit for the employees covered by\nsuch agreement in the form of paid days off; such paid days off shall be\nin the form of leave, compensation, other employee benefits, or some\ncombination thereof; or\n b. impede, infringe, or diminish the ability of a certified collective\nbargaining agent to negotiate the terms and conditions of sick leave\ndifferent from the provisions of this section.\n Provided, however, that in the case of either paragraph a or b of this\nsubdivision, the agreement must specifically acknowledge the provisions\nof this section.\n 10. Upon return to work following any sick leave or paid prenatal\nleave taken pursuant to this section, an employee shall be restored by\ntheir employer to the position of employment held by such employee prior\nto any sick leave or paid prenatal leave taken pursuant to this section\nwith the same pay and other terms and conditions of employment.\n 11. Upon the oral or written request of an employee, an employer shall\nprovide a summary of the amounts of sick leave accrued and used by such\nemployee in the current calendar year and/or any previous calendar year.\nThe employer shall provide such information to the employee within three\nbusiness days of such request.\n 12. Nothing in this section shall be construed to prevent a city with\na population of one million or more from enacting and enforcing local\nlaws or ordinances which meet or exceed the standard or requirements for\nminimum hour and use set forth in this section, as determined by the\ncommissioner. Any paid sick leave benefits provided by a sick leave\nprogram enforced by a municipal corporation in effect as of the\neffective date of this section shall not be diminished or limited as a\nresult of the enactment of this section.\n 13. The commissioner shall have authority to adopt regulations and\nissue guidance to effectuate any of the provisions of this section.\nEmployers shall comply with regulations and guidance promulgated by the\ncommissioner for this purpose which may include but are not limited to\nstandards for the accrual, use, payment, and employee eligibility of\nsick leave.\n 14. The department shall conduct a public awareness outreach campaign\nwhich shall include making information available on its website and\notherwise informing employers and employees of the provisions of this\nsection.\n