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
    • Environmental
    • Franchising & Distribution
    • Government Investigations & White Collar Defense
    • Healthcare
    • Intellectual Property
    • International Services
    • Labor & Employment
    • Litigation
    • Private Wealth & Advisory
    • Project Finance
    • Public Finance
    • Real Estate
    • Regulatory & Government Relations

    Industries

    View All

    • Cannabis
    • Consumer
    • Energy
    • Entertainment
    • Financial Services
    • Healthcare
    • Higher Education
    • Infrastructure
    • Manufacturing
    • Non Profit
    • Real Estate
    • 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.

    • 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.

    1. Home
    2. Insights
    3. Alerts
    4. On the shot clock — New York adds mandatory paid leave for COVID-19 vaccinations Alerts

    Alert / Employment Alert

    On the shot clock — New York adds mandatory paid leave for COVID-19 vaccinations

    March 15, 2021

    Share

    By Kimberly Harding

    Effective immediately, New York law grants public and private employees paid leave for COVID-19 vaccinations. We answer employers’ questions.

    New York has added yet another level to its increasingly complicated COVID-19 leave landscape. On March 12, 2021, Governor Andrew Cuomo signed legislation granting public and private employees paid leave for COVID-19 vaccinations. Specifically, the law provides for up to four hours of paid leave per vaccine injection, to be paid at the employee’s regular hourly rate. The law is effective immediately, and will expire and be deemed repealed on December 31, 2022.

    The law explicitly provides that this paid leave time may not be charged against any other leave an employee is eligible to receive, including specifically leave provided pursuant to New York’s recently enacted Paid Sick Leave law. Accordingly, even employers who already provide generous amounts of leave to their employees or who are attempting to promote vaccination among their workforces through mandates or other incentives will be affected by this law.

    Moreover, the law is silent about any advance notice or documentation requirements, and it does not obligate employees to consult with their employers to try to schedule vaccine appointments in a way that minimizes disruption to operations. It also provides no exception or modification for small employers.

    The law does not appear to require employers to pay employees retroactively for time they may have taken off to receive one or more vaccine doses (although some employers may feel compelled to do so as a matter of internal equity). However, since the provision of the law applicable to private employers has been added to Article 6 of the New York Labor Law (specifically at Section 196-c), employers who violate the law going forward will be subject to severe penalties, including liquidated damages and attorney’s fees in the event of private litigation.

    While the law obviously imposes a new burden on employers who are already struggling under the weight of an increasingly complex leave environment, some relief may be available. Under a little-noticed provision of the American Rescue Plan Act, the federal government has expanded the types of leave eligible for federal tax credits under the Families First Coronavirus Relief Act to include leave taken for an employee to obtain a COVID-19 vaccination. Accordingly, while employers still must accommodate this leave, they may at least be spared some of the economic hardship resulting from this latest mandate.

    Given that the law is effective immediately, and that the vaccine-eligible population is increasing each day, employers should consult with counsel as soon as possible to determine the best means of compliance.

    Labor & Employment

    Locations

    AlbanyLong IslandNew York CityRochester

    Practices

    Labor & EmploymentLabor & Employment LitigationWage-Hour Compliance & LitigationWorkplace: Policies, Procedures & Training

    Insights And Happenings

    • Alert

      New York Department of Health issues COVID-19 vaccination mandates for healthcare workers

      Aug 26, 2021
    • Alert

      New York Department of Health to issue COVID-19 vaccination mandate for healthcare workers

      Aug 18, 2021
    • Alert

      New CDC guidance for fully vaccinated people has employers asking “What do we do on vaccinations?”

      May 26, 2021

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

    • People
    • Capabilities
    • Insights
    • About
    • Locations
    • Events
    • Careers
    • Alumni
    • © 2023 Nixon Peabody. All rights reserved
    • Privacy Policy
    • Terms of Use
    • Statement of Client Rights
    • Supplier Diversity Program
    • Nixon Peabody International LLC
    • PAL