New York City’s sick and safe leave regulations have been changed, altering several important aspects of the law.
Regarding eligibility under the law, the regulations now specify that an employee who only performs work, including by telecommuting, while physically located outside of New York City, is not eligible for sick and safe leave, even if the employer is located in New York City. However, an employee with a primary work location outside of New York City is eligible if they regularly perform, or are expected to regularly perform, work in New York City during a calendar year (e.g., an employee with a hybrid work schedule). For those employees, only hours worked within New York City count toward the accrual of safe and safe leave.
For purposes of determining how many employees work for an organization, which impacts whether the employer is required to provide paid sick and safe leave, the regulations now state that employers must use the total number of employees nationwide, not only those working in New York City.
Additionally, for employers who require reasonable advance notice of an employee’s need to use safe and sick time, the regulations now require that such a requirement must be included in an employer’s written policy.
The amended regulations go into effect on October 15, 2023.
