Jersey City Employers Must Provide Sick Time

Beginning today January 24, 2014, businesses in Jersey City with 10 or more employees must provide up to 40 hours of paid sick time to each employee each calendar year, including part-time and temporary employees who work at least 80 hours in the year. Jersey City employers with fewer than 10 employees must provide unpaid sick time to their employees, including part-time and temporary employees who work at least 80 hours in the year. Generally, employees accrue one hour of sick time for every 30 hours worked beginning on the first day of employment. However, employees may not use sick time until the 91^st day of employment. Sick time may be used for one of the following reasons: the employee’s health care, the care of a family member, the closure of the employee’s place of business due to a public health emergency, or to care for the employee’s child whose school is closed due to a public health emergency. Sick time may be taken in hourly increments or the smallest increment that the employer’s payroll system uses to account for absences or use of other time, whichever is smaller. Employers that already have a paid leave policy in place that provides at least an equal amount of paid leave for the same qualifying events covered by the ordinance are not required to provide additional paid sick time, but should have their leave policies reviewed carefully by counsel to ensure that their policies comply. Jersey City’s new law provides for carry-over of accrued but unused sick time from one calendar year to the next, however employees are not required to pay employees for accrued but unused sick time at the time of separation from employment. Employers must provide written notice to new hires, display a poster approved by the Jersey City Department of Health and Human Services, and retain records of employee pay and sick time usage for three years. Employers who violate the notice and posting requirements may face fines up to $100 for each employee who did not receive a notice and up to $500 for each establishment where a poster was not displayed. This new law also prohibits retaliation, and employers found in violation can face a fine of up to $1,250 and/or up to 90 days of community service per violation. Some Frequently Asked Questions about Jersey City’s new law can be found here. For more information on the new ordinance, or for information on paid sick time laws in other jurisdictions, please contact Patrick W. McGovern, pmcgovern@genovaburns.com, or Rebecca Fink,rfink@genovaburns.com, in the firm’s Labor Group.