EMPLOYMENT LAW NEWS
New Jersey Cities Paid Sick Leave
Published April 21, 2015
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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