New Jersey Earned Sick Leave Law

Back in May, New Jersey joined the ranks of states like Washington and Arizona that have passed mandatory paid sick leave laws for employees. The New Jersey Earned Sick Leave law goes into effect on October 29th, and compliance is required unless an employee is already under a collective bargaining agreement or is a per diem health care worker. The vast majority of New Jersey employers and employees don’t relate to either of those two exceptions and so what follows is an overview of the law and what employers should do to prepare for it.

The Heart of the Law

The basics of the law are simple and are as follows:

• In a twelve-month period, defined by the employer, employees must earn up to 40 hours of paid sick leave
• Employers can award their employees this time by either…
  • front-loading 40 hours at the beginning of the benefit year

–   OR   –

• • awarding one hour of sick leave for every 30 hours worked and capping the earning at 40 hours
• For the employee who likes to save up their accrued time, they are legally allowed to carry over up to 40 hours of accrued sick leave from the previous year while still earning another 40 for the upcoming year

What Employers Should Know

• If your company already has a paid time off, personal, or vacation policy that provides employees with 40 hours per year, those current company policies can fulfill the requirements of this law so long as the rate of time earned is equal to or greater than one hour of leave per 30 hours worked.
• Record keeping is required to show compliance with this law. Each year’s records should be kept for at least five years to show employees’ earning of sick leave according to the minimum rate, demonstrate that up to 40-hours of left-over sick leave is carried over to the next year, and to prove that employees were able to use their paid sick time.
• Upon termination, employers are not required to pay employees for unused paid sick leave.
• Employers can require 7 days notice for an employee’s use of paid sick leave for foreseeable circumstances, and can require employees to make efforts to use sick time in a way that does not affect business. For leaves of absence of three days or more employers may request documentation confirming the use of sick leave.
• Employers may not require the employee to find a replacement in order to use their paid sick leave.
• Employers may not require the use of sick time to be in increments of time greater than an employee’s shift. For example, an employer cannot require use of leave only for eight hour shifts if an employee only works six hour shifts and thereby prevent the employee from using their paid time off.
• Employers can withhold use of paid sick leave for new hires for the first 120 days of employment.

What Employees Should Know

• Though you begin accruing time upon your hire date, you are not entitled to use paid sick leave until you have been employed for at least 120 days at a company.
• Employers cannot require you to find a replacement for your shift before you are allowed to use your accrued sick time.
• Employees can use sick days for
  • Personal mental health or physical treatment
  • Care for a family member
  • Issues resulting from domestic or sexual violence
  • Appointments related to the health of a child
• If an employer fails to award employees paid sick leave at a minimum rate of one hour per 30 hours worked then that employee has the right to file a lawsuit for damages.

Employers’ Next Steps (to be done before October 29th)

• Dust off that company policy statement and employee handbook to update your written policies to ensure compliance with the New Jersey Earned Sick Leave law.
• Decide whether you will give your employees their time off with a 40-hour lump sum at the beginning of the year, or have them incrementally earn it at 1 hour per 30 hours worked.
• Establish a record keeping practice to track time earned, used, and carried over. Keep each year’s records for at least five years.

The Solution

TimeClick offers employers a simple way to manage their compliance with the New Jersey Earned Sick Leave law. Whether an employee is salaried or hourly, you offer a lump sum or incrementally award paid sick leave, or if an employee to carries over their remaining balance, TimeClick has the features and functionality to execute the law without taking time away from other business tasks at hand.