New Jersey Passes Mandatory Paid Sick Leave

On May 2, New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy signed a law mandating all private and public New Jersey employers, regardless of size, offer paid sick leave. This makes New Jersey the 10^th state to adopt mandatory paid sick leave legislation. The Paid Sick Leave Act (“the Act”) also permits employees to use the leave for their own care or for the care of a family member and expands how paid sick leave can be used, encompassing protections beyond the federal Family Leave and Medical Act, the New Jersey Family Leave Act as well as other leave laws. The new law also fully pre-empts the 13 municipalities in New Jersey with local paid sick leave ordinances, allowing employers to adopt a state-wide uniform paid sick leave policy.

Coverage

Permissible use of sick leave includes the following:

(i) Diagnosis, care, treatment, recovery and/or preventive care for the employee’s own mental or physical illness or injury or the employee’s family member’s mental or physical illness or injury;

(ii) Absence due to a public health emergency declared by a public official that causes the closure of the employee’s workplace or the school or childcare facility of the employee’s child or requires the employee or an employee’s family member to seek care;

(iii) A necessary absence for medical, legal or other victim services because of domestic or sexual violence perpetrated on the employee or the employee’s family member; or

(iv) To attend a school-conferences, meetings, or any event requested or required by a child's school administrator, teacher, or other professional staff member responsible for the child’s education, or to attend a meeting regarding a child's health or disability.

The Act also broadly defines “family members” to include an employee’s child, spouse, domestic partner, civil union partner, parent (including adoptive, foster or step-parent, or legal guardian), sibling (including foster or adoptive siblings), grandparent or grandchild, and the parent, grandparent or sibling of the employee’s spouse, domestic partner or civil union partner. Notably, an employee has the opportunity to use their sick leave for the care of a non-related individual whose close association with the employee is the “equivalent” of a family relationship.

Exemptions & Employees Covered by a CBA

Per diem healthcare employees, construction workers subject to a collective bargaining agreement (CBA), and public employees who are provided with sick leave with full payment pursuant to any other law, rule or regulation are exempt from the new law. Non-construction employees covered by a CBA at the time the law goes into effect are also not effect, but will apply once the agreement expires. Further, employees and their representatives may waive the rights available under the law and address paid leave in collective bargaining.

Accrual of Paid Sick Leave

Under the new law, employees accrue 1 hour of paid sick leave for every 30 hours worked. Employees may accrue up to 40 hours of paid sick leave per benefit year.  Employers are also permitted to designate the "benefit year" as any 12-month period but may not modify it without notifying the New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development (NJDOL).

Employees become eligible to use earned sick leave beginning on the 120^th day after they are hired, and may use their earned sick leave as it is accrued. Employers are also permitted to offer, or “frontload” 40 hours of paid sick time or utilize a paid-time-off (“PTO”) policy as long as it provides equal or greater benefits and accrue benefits at an equal or greater rate than the benefits provided under the Act. There is no requirement to payout accrued and unused sick leave upon termination absent a company policy to the contrary.

Upon the mutual consent of the employee and employer, an employee may voluntarily choose to work additional hours or shifts during the same or following pay period, in lieu of hours or shifts missed, but shall not be required to work additional hours or shifts or use accrued earned sick leave. In addition, an employer may not require, as a condition of an employee's using earned sick leave, that the employee search for or find a replacement worker to cover the hours during which the employee is using earned sick leave.

Notice

Employers are entitled to 7 days advance notice of “foreseeable” absences and can restrict employee’s use of “foreseeable” paid sick leave on certain dates.  Where the need is unforeseeable, an employer may only require notice “as soon as practicable,” if the employer has notified the employee of this requirement.  In addition, employers are only permitted to ask the employee for documentation to substantiate the sick leave if the employee is absent for 3 or more consecutive days.

Compliance

Employers will be required to maintain records documenting the hours worked and earned sick leave used by employees. Records must be maintained for 5 years and made available for inspection by the NJDOL. If an employee claims an employer violated the Act, and that employer that has failed to maintain adequate records, then there is a presumption that the employer failed to provide paid sick leave.

Employers must also post a notification and distribute a written notification alerting employees of their rights within 30 days of the notice being issued by the NJDOL and provide the notification to all new employees at the time of hiring.

Anti-Retaliation

Employers are prohibited from retaliating or discriminating against employees under the Act. The Act broadly defines retaliation to include not only retaliatory personnel action like suspension, demotion, or refusal to promote, but also includes threatening to report the immigrant status of an employee or family member of the employee. Employers are also prohibited from retaliating or discriminating against an employee who files a complaint with the commissioner or a court alleging the employer’s violation of the Act, or informs any other person of their rights under the Act.

There is a rebuttable presumption of unlawful retaliatory action whenever an employer takes adverse action against an employee within 90 days of when that employee opposes any violation of the Act, informs any person about the employer’s alleged violation of the Act, files a complaint alleging a violation of the Act, or cooperates in an investigation into an alleged violation of the Act.

Penalties

Any failure of an employer to make available or pay earned sick leave as required by the new law, or any other violation of the law, shall be regarded as a failure to meet the wage payment requirements of the New Jersey Wage and Hour Law.  Employers will also be subject to the penalties and remedies contained in the New Jersey Wage and Hour Law, including fines and possible imprisonment, reinstatement of a discharged employee to correct any discriminatory action and payment of all lost wages in full.

Bottom Line

The New Jersey Paid Sick Leave Act takes effect in 180 days, on October 29, 2018. Employers in New Jersey, in consultation with legal counsel, must review and revise existing policies, practices and procedures related to calculating employee’s sick leave to ensure compliance with the Act.  Human Resources and Benefits personnel should also be trained on the new paid sick leave law requirements and Managers should also receive updated training to ensure that internal recordkeeping processes are sufficient to keep track of time taken under the new law.

For more information about the potential impacts of the Paid Sick Leave Act or what steps your company can take to effectively ensure compliance with wage and hour laws, please contact John C. Petrella, Esq., Chair of the firm’s Employment Litigation Practice Group, at jpetrella@genovaburns.com, or Dina M. Mastellone, Esq., Chair of the firm’s Human Resources Practice Group, at dmastellone@genovaburns.com, or 973-533-0777.