Effective October 29th, 2018, New Jersey employers must provide earned paid sick leave to each employee. This law preempts all local sick leave ordinances.
Who is affected by these changes?
All employers and employees in the state of New Jersey are covered. Under the new law, employers must pay an employee for earned sick leave at the same rate of pay with the same benefits as he/she normally earns. An employee is NOT entitled to payment of unused earned sick leave upon termination, resignation or retirement.
How Can Employee Accrue Sick Leave?
Employees accrue one hour of earned sick leave for every 30 hours of work. Employees can accrue up to 40 hours of earned sick leave per year.
What Qualifies for Leave?
Mental or physical illness or injury of an employee or his/her family member qualifies for sick leave. In additional to illness and injury, certain meetings or events for a child’s education or care can also qualify for leave. Employers can require seven days of notice before foreseeable leave is to begin. Leave for unforeseeable circumstances is requested as soon as practical.
Employers may:
– Prevent employees from using foreseeable earned paid sick leave on certain dates
– Require reasonable documentation if leave is used on prohibited dates
– Require reasonable documentation for leave of 3 or more days to ensure the leave is being taken for qualifying life events.
When does this take place?
Generally, employees can begin accruing and using leave 120 days after being hired, but no earlier than October 29, 2018.
For further information on NJ earned paid sick leave and how it will affect your business, please contact your DDK Advisor
