Paid Sick Leave

On May 2, 2018, a new paid sick leave law was passed mandating that employers provide every employee paid sick leave. This law went into effect October 29, 2018, which is when employees can begin earning their paid sick leave hours. Every employee must be given one hour of paid sick leave for every 30 hours they work, and must be able to save up at least 40 hours of paid sick time per year. Here is what the law covers:

• Conditions: Time off can be used for recovery from medical care, aid a family member (any blood relative and/or “whose close association with the employee is the equivalent of a family relationship”), or school events for employees children. Employers may not request proof that any conditions were met unless PSL is used for three or more consecutive days
• Restrictions: Minimums can be set for amount of time employee can take off at a time, foreseeable absences may require advanced notice, blackout dates can be applied
• Penalties: An employer cannot take any “retaliatory action” against an employee for using PSL, any information disclosed on PSL must be confidential, employer is presumed guilty if employee reports employer adverse action. Burden of proof is on employer to prove adverse action was not taken.

Additional Resources on New Paid Sick Leave Laws:

NJGCA Paid Sick Leave Memo: What You Need To Know: Memo from NJGCA detailing what members need to know in order to be in compliance with the new paid sick leave law.

Paid Sick Leave Regulations (September 13, 2018): NJDOL issued proposed regulations for implementation of PSL and addresses many employer questions raised about the new laws.

New Jersey Earned Sick Leave Notice of Employee Rights: This document must be given to every current employee by November 29, 2018 as well as every employee hired after this date, and must be printed and displayed at your business.

New Jersey Department of Labor Paid Sick Leave FAQs: This document answers several questions around the new paid sick leave law in detail; including its use, carryover and payout, retaliation, and record keeping.

Paid Sick Leave Statute

Department of Labor & Workforce Development – Earned Sick Leave is the Law in New Jersey – This website from the DOL contains useful information for employees and employers on how the law works as well as printable documents to display in your office.