Skip to main content

Nixon Peabody LLP

  • People
  • Capabilities
  • Insights
  • About
Trending Topics
    • People
    • Capabilities
    • Insights
    • About
    • Locations
    • Events
    • Careers
    • Alumni
    Practices

    View All

    • Affordable Housing
    • Community Development Finance
    • Corporate & Finance
    • Cybersecurity & Privacy
    • Entertainment & Media
    • Environmental
    • Franchising & Distribution
    • Government Investigations & White Collar Defense
    • Healthcare
    • Intellectual Property
    • International Services
    • Labor, Employment, and Benefits
    • Litigation
    • Private Wealth & Advisory
    • Project Finance
    • Public Finance
    • Real Estate
    • Regulatory & Government Relations
    Industries

    View All

    • Aviation
    • Cannabis
    • Consumer
    • Energy
    • Financial Services
    • Healthcare
    • Higher Education
    • Infrastructure
    • Manufacturing
    • Nonprofit Organizations
    • Real Estate
    • Sports & Stadiums
    • Technology
    Value-Added Services

    View All

    • Alternative Fee Arrangements

      Developing innovative pricing structures and alternative fee agreement models that deliver additional value for our clients.

    • Continuing Education

      Advancing professional knowledge and offering credits for attorneys, staff and other professionals.

    • Crisis Advisory

      Helping clients respond correctly when a crisis occurs.

    • DEI Strategic Services

      Providing our clients with legal, strategic, and practical advice to make transformational changes in their organizations.

    • eDiscovery

      Leveraging law and technology to deliver sound solutions.

    • Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG)

      We help clients create positive return on investments in people, products, and the planet.

    • Global Services

      Delivering seamless service through partnerships across the globe.

    • Innovation

      Leveraging leading-edge technology to guide change and create seamless, collaborative experiences for clients and attorneys.

    • IPED

      Industry-leading conferences focused on affordable housing, tax credits, and more.

    • Legal Project Management

      Providing actionable information to support strategic decision-making.

    • Legally Green

      Teaming with clients to advance sustainable projects, mitigate the effects of climate change, and protect our planet.

    • Nixon Peabody Trust Company

      Offering a range of investment management and fiduciary services.

    • NP Capital Connector

      Bringing together companies and investors for tomorrow’s new deals.

    • NP Second Opinion

      Offering fresh insights on cases that are delayed, over budget, or off-target from the desired resolution.

    • NP Trial

      Courtroom-ready lawyers who can resolve disputes early on clients’ terms or prevail at trial before a judge or jury.

    • Social Impact

      Creating positive impact in our communities through increasing equity, access, and opportunity.

    • Women in Dealmaking

      We provide strategic counsel on complex corporate transactions and unite dynamic women in the dealmaking arena.

    1. Home
    2. Insights
    3. Alerts
    4. New York Paid Sick Leave guidance released

      Alerts

    Alert / Employment

    New York Paid Sick Leave guidance released

    Oct 21, 2020

    LinkedInX (Twitter)EmailCopy URL

    By Stephanie Caffera

    The New York State Department of Labor’s newly released FAQs addressing paid sick leave clarify many provisions of the new sick leave law. We highlight some of the outstanding questions addressed by the new guidance.

    DOWNLOAD

    NY Paid Sick Leave Guidance

    The New York State Department of Labor (NY DOL) has released FAQs and a webpage addressing the New York State Paid Sick Leave Law (NY PSL), which took effect September 30, 2020. While the webpage merely restates the basic provisions of the new sick leave law, the FAQs address several outstanding questions, including some of those raised in our previous alert. [1]

    For example, the FAQs make clear that an employee may use paid sick leave for routine healthcare appointments, such as for routine visits to the doctor, dentist, or eye doctor, as these are considered preventive medical care. This means an employee may use paid sick leave to take their child to an annual check-up or to cover time missed from work for their own routine eye exam.

    The FAQs also confirm that an employee can choose to use sick leave during Paid Family Leave (PFL) only if the employer allows it. Taking sick leave at the same time as PFL may allow the employee to receive their full salary for all or part of the leave. An employer should decide whether or not to permit the use of paid sick leave with PFL and include its choice in its written sick leave policy.

    The FAQs also address whether an employee may use paid sick leave for an absence related to COVID-19. An employee may or may not be able to use sick leave if the employer is ordered to close temporarily due to a public health emergency depending on whether the leave is taken for a use permitted under the NY PSL, such as preventive care or treatment of a mental or physical illness or health condition. The FAQs state that paid sick leave is separate from and additional to quarantine leave (emergency paid sick leave) for employees subject to a precautionary or mandatory order of quarantine or isolation related to COVID-19. [2]

    Finally, the FAQs confirm that while employees must be allowed to carry over unused sick leave into the following calendar year, employers are not required to allow employees to use more sick leave than the annual accrual limits stated in the statute. Thus, an employee may have a leave balance in excess of the amount they are permitted to use in any calendar year, which will not be paid out when employment ends. As explained by the FAQs, the benefit of carrying over sick leave into a new calendar year is that an employee is able to use it right away instead of waiting to accrue leave. Those employers who choose to front-load sick leave on January 1 already provide this benefit by their choice to make all leave available to employees at once.

    Open questions remain. For example, the DOL’s guidance does not address how to count the number of employees (for purposes of identifying the number of paid sick leave hours) if the employer has operations inside and outside New York State, leaving it unclear whether only NY employees count or whether the employer must include all employees in any state, with only those employees in NY able to receive and use the benefit. The FAQs also do not tell us whether the no-retaliation provision of the NY PSL means that paid sick leave is “protected” in the same manner as FMLA leave (i.e., where the employer cannot count the absence against an employee for attendance or disciplinary reasons). The FAQs do clarify that an employer may discipline an employee who misuses sick leave, such as taking leave for purposes other than those permitted under the NY PSL or who lies to their employer in connection with such leave.

    The NY PSL authorizes the Commissioner of Labor to issue regulations pursuant to the State Administrative Procedure Act, which provides a notice and comment period during which the public may weigh in on the proposed regulations. The newly released FAQs provide some helpful guidance while we await proposed regulations.


    1. “Does your PTO policy comply with New York’s new paid sick leave law?”, June 26, 2020. [Back to reference]
    2. See New York State, New Paid Leave for COVID-19. [Back to reference]

    Locations

    New York CityLong IslandRochesterAlbany

    Practices

    Labor, Employment & Benefits

    Insights And Happenings

    • Alert

      Does your PTO policy comply with New York’s new paid sick leave law?

      June 26, 2020
    The foregoing has been prepared for the general information of clients and friends of the firm. It is not meant to provide legal advice with respect to any specific matter and should not be acted upon without professional counsel. If you have any questions or require any further information regarding these or other related matters, please contact your regular Nixon Peabody LLP representative. This material may be considered advertising under certain rules of professional conduct.

    Subscribe to stay informed of the latest legal news, alerts, and business trends.Subscribe

    • People
    • Capabilities
    • Insights
    • About
    • Locations
    • Events
    • Careers
    • Alumni
    • Cookie Preferences
    • Privacy Policy
    • Terms of Use
    • Accessibility Statement
    • Statement of Client Rights
    • Purchase Order Terms & Conditions
    • Nixon Peabody International LLC
    • PAL
    © 2025 Nixon Peabody. All rights reserved