EMPLOYMENT LAW NEWS

New Jersey Cities Paid Sick Leave

Published April 21, 2015

New Jersey Cities Paid Sick Leave

Nine Cities in New Jersey have passed Paid Sick Leave Ordinances. This “cheat sheet” provides the basics for all nine ordinances and links to required postings (where they are available).

Four New Jersey cities recently released paid sick leaves notices for employers (East Orange, Montclair, Passaic, and Paterson). That makes nine New Jersey cities with sick leave ordinances – and most likely other cities will follow suit.

GovDocs thought it was time to help you keep track of sick leave requirements for each of the nine cities. Most of the ordinances look very similar to one another having followed the same template, so we’ll highlight the differences below.

Which New Jersey Cities had Paid Sick Leave Laws?

NOTE: This blog was published in 2015. New Jersey has since passed a paid sick leave law at the state level that pre-empted local ordinances.

Nine cities in New Jersey have passed sick leave ordinances, meaning that private employers operating businesses in those cities must provide workers covered by the ordinance paid sick leave*. They are (in the order in which they passed the sick leave ordinances):

City Ordinance Effective Date
1 Jersey City* January 2014*
2 Newark May 2014
3 Passaic January 2015
4 East Orange January 2015
5 Paterson January 2015
6 Irvington January 2015
7 Montclair March 2015
8 Trenton July 2015
9 Bloomfield June 2015

Which Employers Need to Provide City Paid Sick Leave?

For the most part, employers with employees who work more than 80 hours in a calendar year must provide their workers with paid sick leave – the exceptions being East Orange and Bloomfield who require all employers to provide workers sick leave.

How Do Workers Accrue Sick Leave Hours?

Workers in the New Jersey cities with sick leave ordinances earn one hour for every 30 hours worked. Workers begin accruing sick leave the first day of employment or on the first day the ordinance takes effect. Workers can begin using their accrued hours after 90 calendar days of employment.

Are Sick Leave Hours Accrued Capped?

Yes. Workers can accrue no more than:

Businesses with 9 or fewer employees 24 hours/year
Businesses with 10 or more employees 40 hours/year

*Jersey City is the major exception: Jersey City is the only exception to this rule. All Jersey City employees can earn up to 40 hours of sick leave, but in businesses with nine or fewer employees, the sick leave is UNPAID.

What Happens to Unused Sick Time?

Workers can carry over up to 40 hours of unused paid sick time can be carried over to the next calendar year.

This Employment Law News blog is intended for market awareness only, it is not to be used for legal advice or counsel.

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GovDocs simplifies employment law compliance for large, multi-jurisdiction employers in the U.S. and Canada. The GovDocs software platform integrates three solutions in one convenient place to help you master the employment laws impacting your business. Whether you manage a postings, minimum wage or paid leave program, our products cut through research time, provide proactive insights into the everchanging landscape of employment laws and reduce the risk of noncompliance. The company is headquartered in Eagan, Minn.

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