New York City Safe and Sick Leave (NYCSSL) has been amended to conform with certain parameters of the fledgling New York State Paid Sick Leave (NYPSL). With the release of NYPSL, many employees will potentially be eligible for both forms of paid leave, and the confusion surrounding which leave applies when had the potential to prevent employers and employees from fully understanding their rights and responsibilities. 

 In order to reduce confusion over the interaction between these laws, NYCSSL regulations have been changed to mirror NYPSL. Generally speaking, the amendments provide that any NYPSL standard that is greater than an existing NYCSSL standard will  be altered to match the NYPSL standard. You can read more about the individual provisions of the NYPSL HERE.  More specifically: 

1. New employer thresholds for providing NYCSSL: 

- Employers with 4 or fewer employees and a net income of less than $1 million in the previous tax year are required to provide 40 hours of unpaid sick leave per calendar year;

- Employers with 4 or fewer employees and a net income of at least $1 million in the previous tax year are required to provide 40 hours of paid sick leave per calendar year;

- Employers with 5-99 employees (regardless of net income) are required to provide 40 hours of paid sick leave per calendar year;

- Employers with 100+ employees (regardless of net income) must provide 56 hours of paid sick leave per calendar year.

2. Leave must be paid at employee’s regular rate of pay (minimum of highest applicable minimum wage or contract wage);

3. There is no longer an 80-hour work requirement to be eligible for benefits;

4. There is no longer a 120-day waiting period for taking leave 

With these changes, the city and state now have many materially identical provisions. Although these changes take effect September 30, 2020, employees eligible for more NYCSSL as a result of these changes must wait until January 1,2021. 

You can read the entire amended Safe and Sick Leave law HERE