Earlier this year, NYC expanded its Earned Safe and Sick Time Act (ESSTA), adding 32 hours of unpaid protected leave and expanding the reasons employees may use it.
The City has now finalized regulations governing how employers must administer these changes, with implications for employee handbooks, payroll systems, recordkeeping, and offboarding procedures.
Three notable changes
Offboarding. The law already requires employers to keep employees updated on their leave balances every pay period, and to make an electronic system accessible off-site if that's how balances are shared. The final rule adds a new offboarding obligation for employers using electronic systems: when someone leaves, you must either continue their access for 6 months or provide a written leave statement within a week of their last paycheck. As a result, employers may need to delay revoking employee access following termination or establish an alternative process for preparing and distributing a compliant leave statement.
Rehire. If an employee separates and is rehired during the same calendar year, the employer must reinstate the employee's unused portion of the 32 hours of immediately available unpaid leave, rather than provide a new 32-hour bank.
Paid vs. unpaid. The 32 hours of unpaid leave are separate from the paid sick time employers already owe under ESSTA (either 40 or 56 hours, depending on size). Opting to pay the 32 hours doesn't reduce your existing 40- or 56-hour paid obligation. In other words, every employee gets at least 32 hours of safe and sick leave, whether paid or unpaid, immediately available on the first day of employment and at the start of each calendar year, in addition to any paid ESSTA leave required by law.
In practice
With the amended rules taking effect July 23, New York City employers should review their leave policies and procedures to ensure compliance.
Questions about how this applies to your company?
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