Paid and unpaid sick leave laws are part of a growing trend that allows employees time off to recover from their own illness or to care for a sick family member. Currently, Jersey City, New York City, Portland, Seattle, San Francisco, the state of Connecticut, and Washington, D.C. have all passed sick leave laws, often occurring as paid time off. Newark, NJ is poised to go next.
Here’s how the laws stack up. Click on a link below to obtain the poster.
- Newark: Employees in businesses with 10 or more employees would earn 1 hour of paid sick leave for every 30 that they work, up to 5 paid days off a year. Employees in smaller businesses would earn up to 3 paid sick days a year.
- New York: Under a phased-in law that starts April 1 and that will ultimately cover employees of businesses with as few as 15 employees, paid sick leave accrues at a rate of 1 hour for every 30 hours worked, up to 40 hours per year. That law may soon be expanded to require paid sick time for employers with 5 or more employees, and unpaid sick time for employers with less than 5 workers.
- Jersey City (required poster): Eligible employees accrue 1 hour of sick leave for every 30 hours worked, up 40 hours per year. Employees of businesses with 10 or more employees are eligible for paid sick leave. Employees of businesses with 9 or fewer employees are eligible for unpaid sick leave.
- Portland (required poster): Eligible employees accrue 1 hour of sick leave for every 30 hours worked, up to 40 hours of sick time in a year. Employees of businesses with 6 or more employees are eligible for paid sick time. Employees of businesses with 5 or fewer employees are eligible for unpaid sick time.
- Seattle (required poster): Employees of a business with 5 to 49 employees earn 1 hour paid sick leave for every 40 hours worked, up to 40 hours a year. Employees of a business with 50 to 249 employees earn 1 hour for every 40 hours worked, up to 56 hours a year. Employees of a business with 250 or more employees earn 1 hour for every 30 hours worked, up to 72 hours a year. All sick leaves are paid.
- San Francisco (required poster): Eligible employees accrue 1 hour of paid sick leave for every 30 hours worked. Employees of businesses with fewer than 10 employees may have up to 40 hours of accrued paid sick time saved at any time. Employees of businesses with 10 or more employees may have up to 72 hours of accrued paid sick time saved at any time.
- Washington, D.C. (required poster): Employees of a business with less than 25 employees earn 1 hour paid sick leave for every 87 hours worked, up to 3 days per year. Employees of a business with 25 to 99 employees earn 1 hour for every 43 hours worked, up to 5 days per year. Employees of a business with 100 or more employees earn 1 hour for every 37 hours worked, up to 7 days per year. All sick leaves are paid.
- Connecticut (required poster): Eligible employees accrue 1 hour of paid sick leave for every 40 hours worked, up 40 hours per year. The law only applies to employers with 50 or more employees.