DO EMPLOYERS NEED TO PAY EMPLOYEES FOR UNUSED LEAVE AT THE END OF THE EMPLOYMENT
RELATIONSHIP?
Unless required by another agreement or policy, including the employer’s own written leave policy, employers
are not required under this law to pay employees for unused sick leave at the end of an employment relationship.
Seasonal employees who maintain an ongoing employment relationship with their employer maintain their leave
accruals through such breaks in employment.
ALTERNATIVE ACCRUAL SYSTEM
CAN AN EMPLOYER FRONTLOAD ACCRUAL FOR PARTTIME EMPLOYEES?
Yes. At the beginning of each calendar year, an employer can provide part-time employees with the hours of sick
leave they would accrue based on the hours they are anticipated to work at the accrual rate of one hour of sick
leave for every 30 hours the employee is anticipated to work. However, if the employer frontloads fewer than 40
hours, the employer must still track the employee’s hours worked and accrual of sick leave because a part-time
worker may work more hours than anticipated. If the employee works more hours than anticipated, the employer
must allow the employee to accrue leave at the rate of one hour for every 30 hours worked until the total amount
of front-loaded plus accrued sick leave in a calendar year equals 40 hours. Employees who are front-loaded less
than 40 hours in a calendar year must be allowed to use up to 40 hours of sick leave in a calendar year if they have
accrued it. An employer who front-loads fewer than 40 hours must allow employees to carry over up to 40 hours of
unused sick leave into the new calendar year, in addition to front-loading the amount of time the employer expects
the employee to earn in the new calendar year. Reminder: If the employer has not calculated employees’ use and
accruals, the employer cannot change the policy in the new calendar year since employees are entitled to carry
over unused sick leave and use those hours at the beginning of the new calendar year.
COLLECTIVE BARGAINING AGREEMENTS
WHAT IS REQUIRED FOR COLLECTIVE BARGAINING AGREEMENTS THAT ARE ENTERED INTO ON OR AFTER
SEPTEMBER 30, 2020?
The law further provides that collective bargaining agreements entered into on or after September 30, 2020 may
provide for dierent leave benefits, so long as such benefits are “comparable benefits for the employees” to those
required by the law, and the agreement specifically acknowledges the provisions of Section 196-b of the Labor
Law. Such acknowledgement should also specifically identify any benefits deemed comparable to the leave in
the law.
DOES A COLLECTIVE BARGAINING AGREEMENT NEED TO ACKNOWLEDGE THE STATE SICK LEAVE
REQUIREMENTS, OR IS A GENERAL REFERENCE SUFFICIENT?
To satisfy the requirements of this law, any agreement entered into after September 30, 2020 must specifically
reference Labor Law Section 196-b. DOL recommends that the “comparable benefits for the employees” be
explicitly identified and labeled as such in the agreement to avoid confusion or misunderstanding.
WILL THE DEPARTMENT OF LABOR TAKE COMPLAINTS FROM EMPLOYEES COVERED BY A COLLECTIVE
BARGAINING AGREEMENT?
Yes. All employees, regardless of union status, may file a complaint under the State Paid Sick Leave law with the
Department of Labor. For the purposes of enforcement, DOL looks first to the existence of language in a Collective
Bargaining Agreement that specifically acknowledges the provisions of Section 196-b of the Labor Law before
looking to the specific practices complained of. If no such language exists in the agreement or the agreement
predates Section 196-b, the Department will generally then proceed with its investigation to determine if the
employer complied with the requirements of Section 196-b.