Jersey City Earned Sick Leave Notice Revised

Jersey City Earned Sick Leave Ordinance went into effect on January 24, 2014 but was amended with the latest amendments taking effect in late 2015.

What is the Jersey City Earned Sick Leave Ordinance?

The law protects workers in Jersey City when they need to take time off from work when they or their family members need to go to the doctor or recover from being sick.

All private businesses operating in Jersey City allow their workers to earn paid sick days to use for themselves or to care for family members. Workers can use sick time when:

• Caring for themselves or family members.
• Attending preventative doctor appointments.
• The place of employment or a child’s school is closed due to a public health emergency.

What Changed on the Jersey City Earned Sick Leave Notice?

The revised notice recognizes amendments to the Ordinance that took effect December 29, 2015 requiring small businesses to offer paid sick days and for direct service workers to accrue up to 5 paid sick days regardless of business size.

Additionally, the posting format was snazzified (which is the technical term), leaving the text-heavy Q&A approach in the dust. The new version streamlines the content into four major points. Plus, there’s a neat picture of the Jersey City skyline.

Jersey City Earned Sick Leave Notice and Posting Requirements

Employers must provide each worker written notice of the Jersey City Earned Sick Leave notice in English and in the primary language of the employee at the commencement of employment.

The notice should include:

• Description of the right to paid sick time.
• Accrual rate and amount of paid sick time.
• Terms of use.
• Statement of right to be free from retaliation for requesting or using paid sick time.
• Explanation of the right to file a complaint or bring a civil action for violations of the Ordinance by the employer.

Employers also need to display the notice in a “conspicuous and accessible” place in each establishment in English and in any language that is the first language of at least 10% of the employer’s workforce.

Violations of the notice and posting requirements can incur civil fines of $100 for each employee who was not given appropriate notice pursuant to this section and $500 for each establishment in which a poster was not displayed.

Jersey City Earned Sick Leave Accrual and Use

All private sector workers in Jersey City are eligible to earn one hour of sick time for every 30 hours worked.

• Small businesses (fewer than 10 employees): Provide at least 24 paid sick hours per year.
• Large businesses (10 or more employees): Provide at least 40 paid sick hours per year.
• Direct service workers (in contact with the public, such as food-service, child or elder care workers): Earn a minimum of 40 paid sick hours per year, regardless of the business size.

Covered workers begin earning paid sick leave on the first day of employment. They may use available paid sick time 90 days later.

Up to 5 days of unused sick time is carried over to the following calendar year.