New York Sick Leave Laws - The Complete Guide for 2025

There is a wide variety of different New York Labor Laws employers need to comply with. A primary area of legislation requiring compliance revolves around New York Sick Leave Laws, both paid and / or unpaid. 

The following article will guide employers through compliance with the requirements of New York Sick Leave and New York Sick & Safe Leave, while also covering local sick leave legislation for New York City. 

New York Sick Leave Law Overview

New York State Sick Leave was signed into law on April 3, 2020, by Governor Andrew Cuomo and guaranteed access to paid or unpaid sick leave for New York's workforce while requiring employers to provide this leave. 

New York Safe and Sick Leave Eligibility

New York Sick Leave and New York Safe and Sick Leave eligibility applies to all private sector workers in the state, including all industries, occupations, part-time or seasonal status, and overtime exemptions. However, federal, state, and local government employees are not eligible. The state also clarifies that employees who work at charter schools, private schools, and nonprofits are eligible.

Any employers that offer a policy that meets or exceeds the requirements of New York Sick Leave are not required to provide additional leave. For employers looking to create a policy, here is a New York Sick Leave Policy Sample. 

When it comes to managing employee sick leave, employers should want to learn more about what time and attendance software is, and how it can help businesses manage employee leave.

Paid vs. Unpaid Sick Leave

Employers with five or more employees are required to provide employees with paid sick leave.

Employers with less than five employees that have a net income greater than $1 million must also provide employees with paid sick leave.

Employers with less than five employees and a net income of $1 million or less must provide unpaid sick leave. 

Employees who qualify for paid sick leave are compensated for this paid time off at their regular rate of pay. Note that employers may not take a tip allowance as a credit against minimum wage for leave time.

Employers are not required to pay out any unused sick time. However, it's important to note that if the company's employee handbook contradicts this, payment needs to be made as part of an employee's final pay.  

New York Sick Leave Accrual

While the conditions for paid versus unpaid sick leave are outlined above, the number of hours that employees are able to accrue also depends on the size of the employer's business. 

Employers with less than 100 employees are required to allow workers to accrue up to 40 hours of sick leave, per calendar year. 

Employers with 100 employees or more are required to allow workers to accrue up to 56 hours of sick leave, per calendar year. 

Employees must accrue sick time or leave at a rate no less than one hour for every 30 hours worked. 

Alternatively, employers may decide to frontload the hours instead, making all the sick or leave time available at the start of the accrual year. 

A calendar year can be any 12-month period except, however, when determining the total number of employees in an organization, which must be calculated from January 1st through December 31st.

New York Sick Leave Usage

New York Sick Leave permitted uses are split into two categories, sick leave, and safe leave. Employees may use accrued sick and safe leave (as it accrues) for any of the use cases below.

Sick Leave Uses

Employees may use accrued sick leave for themselves or family members for any of the following reasons:

• For mental or physical illness, injury, or health condition, regardless of whether it has been diagnosed or requires medical care at the time of the request for leave
  • Note: This includes recovery from the side effects of the COVID-19 Vaccine
• For the diagnosis, care, or treatment of a mental or physical illness, injury, or health condition; or need for medical diagnosis or preventive care

As of January 1st, 2025, employers must also provide at least 20 hours of paid prenatal personal leave each year in addition to the above uses. Eligible employees may utilize this leave in hourly increments to receive health care services during their pregnancy or related to pregnancy, including physical examinations, medical procedures, monitoring and testing, and discussions with a health care provider related to pregnancy.

Safe Leave Uses

Employees may use accrued safe leave for an absence from work when the employee or employee’s family member has been the victim of domestic violence, family offense, sexual offense, stalking, or human trafficking for any of the following reasons:

• Obtaining services from a domestic violence shelter, rape crisis center, or other services program
• To participate in safety planning, temporarily or permanently relocate, or take other actions to increase the safety of the employee or employee’s family members
• Meeting with an attorney or other social services provider to obtain information and advice on, and prepare for or participate in any criminal or civil proceeding
• Filing a complaint or domestic incident report with law enforcement
• To meet with a district attorney’s office
• To enroll children in a new school
• Any other actions necessary to ensure the health or safety of the employee or the employee’s family members or to protect those who associate or work with the employee.

Sick Leave Usage Increments

Employers may decide to set minimum increments at which employees may use sick leave. Realistically, an employer may decide to set these increments as low as they would like. However, the minimum increment can not be set above four hours. 

Employers may also prohibit employees from using more leave than the accrual requirements outlined above in any given year. However, if they do so they must outline limitations in writing and either post or give these limitations to employees. At a minimum, it's a good idea to include details on this in the company's employee handbook.

New York Sick Leave Employer Requirements

An employer cannot retaliate against an employee in any way for exercising their right to use sick leave.

Employers also must restore any employees who use sick leave to their former position of employment upon their return.

Recordkeeping Requirements

Employers must keep payroll records for six years, including the amount of sick leave accrued and used. This information must be tracked on a weekly basis.

Employees may also request to see sick leave records for the current or any previous calendar year. If such a request is submitted, the employer must provide this information within three business days of the request.

Posting and Notification Requirements

The New York State Department of Labor offers employers guidelines for notifying employees about time off, including sick leave. The guidelines specify that employers must:

• Provide each employee with time off policies for the workplace in writing or;
• The employer must post a written notification regarding time off policies in a conspicuous location within each of the employer’s establishments
  
  • Information posted may be contained in a union contract, employee handbook, personnel manual, or in other written forms

New York City has more specific posting and notification guidelines. Employers must give each employee a Notice of Employee Rights in writing. The notice must be posted in a conspicuous location that is visible and accessible to all employees.

Employers must post the Notice of Employee Rights in English and any other language spoken as a primary language by at least 5% of employees within the workplace.

The Notice of Employee Rights must include information regarding:

• Accrual and use of safe and sick leave
• Employer’s calendar year
• Right to be free from retaliation
• Right to file a complaint

Local New York Sick Leave Laws

In addition to New York State Sick Leave, businesses in New York City have separate local legislation that must also be complied with.

New York City Sick Leave

Businesses in New York City must manage compliance with the New York City Paid Safe and Sick Leave Law. Anytime a business needs to comply with multiple similar legislations, the more strict laws (or those more favorable to the employee) are typically always applied / need to be complied with by an employer.

So, even though NYC's Leave requirements are very similar to the state, there are additional requirements that go above and beyond the state that need to be adhered to. Here are some of the most important items to be aware of:

• Employers need to make the NYC Safe and Sick Leave Notice available to employees upon hire and should have a policy that describes the benefit and how it can be used.
• New York City employers with 5 employees or less are required to provide 40 hours of unpaid time off if the employer’s annual income is less than $1 million
• Employees must be provided with the ability to use safe and sick leave time as it is accrued without a waiting period for new hires.
• Employers must provide employees with accrued, used, and total leave balances on a paycheck or stub, documentation available with their paycheck / at the same frequency, or through an employee self-service system (i.e. time and attendance software, leave management software, etc.). 
• Documentation from a doctor can only be requested by employers if the employee has taken off more than three workdays in a row.
  • Employees must be reimbursed for any out-of-pocket expense associated with this as well

There are also additional posting and notification requirements for New York City that differ from the state. Employers must provide their employees with the following:

• Have the NYC Safe and Sick Leave Notice available to employees upon hire
  
  • Employers should have a policy that describes the benefit and how it can be used
  • The notice must be in an accessible location in the workplace
• A written safe or sick leave policy to each employee at the start of employment, within 14 days of the effective date of any changes to the policy, and upon the employee’s request
• The employee's total balance of safe and sick leave each pay period (in writing)
• The amount of safe and sick leave the employee used and accrued during the pay period (in writing)

It is important to note that employees are required to give their employer at least seven days of advanced notice if and when sick or safe leave will be used in the foreseeable future. For circumstances where sick or safe leave is taken unexpectedly, employees must provide their employer with a notice as soon as possible.

Lastly, New York City requires all employers to keep employee records for the last three years of employment. These records contain the following employee information:

• Name, address, phone number, employment start and end date(s), rate of pay, hours worked each week, and whether he or she is exempt from state overtime requirements
• The date and time of, and amount paid for, each instance of safe or sick leave used
• Changes in material employment terms specific to the employee (e.g. changes to work hours, location, salary, benefits, duties, etc.)
• The date that the Notice of Employee Rights was provided and proof that the employee received it

Westchester County Sick Leave

Formerly, Westchester County had its own set of sick leave laws that took the place of the established state laws. However, as of September 30, 2020, Westchester County sick leave laws are now dictated by the state-specific laws.

This, however, does not apply to Westchester County’s safe leave laws. 

Managing Sick Leave Compliance in New York

With the complexity that comes with sick leave in New York, many businesses may struggle with compliance. 

In order to better manage sick leave compliance, New York employers may want to consider reaching out to a New York HR consulting services provider for help. The right provider can not only help you develop a customized New York Sick Leave Policy, but also provide software to streamline the process for managing safe and sick leave. 

To find help with New York Sick Leave Law contact us or find a service provider for your business today.

Businesses that struggle with maintaining productivity when employees take time off under New York Sick Time, may want to consider employee scheduling software as a solution. So that when employees take time off under the law, you can ensure your schedule accounts for it.

Guest Author: Linda Walleshauser

Linda Walleshauser is a senior-level certified human resources professional at HR Services at EBC HR & Payroll Solutions, a leading New York Payroll and HR provider, serving businesses throughout New York State and beyond. Linda has successful experience in leadership roles as a human resources executive, trusted advisor, total rewards manager, and strategic consultant. Linda's expertise also extends to leadership experience in higher education, manufacturing, and healthcare organizations, as well as strategic planning with executive teams in all industries. Everyday, Linda effectively develops and implements HR policies that drive improvement in organizational culture, employee performance, and operating results. Known for her strategic focus in organizational development, benefits and compensation programs, recruitment and retention, contract negotiations, career development, systems management, and retirement programs, Linda is committed to community service through board membership and volunteerism for many non-profit organizations in the Western New York area.