MANDATORY PAID SICK LEAVE

Eric Blomgren

Associate Director of

Government Affairs

Disclaimer: Contents and presentation are not legal advice

WHY IS MANDATED PAID SICK LEAVE

BEING PUSHED?

~39% of workers nationally do not have access to

paid sick leave.

70% of low income workers do not have this benefit.

Issue is championed by labor unions and

progressive advocacy groups.

In 2014 it was determined to be the most heavily

lobbied issue in the Statehouse.

NATIONALLY

MUNICIPAL MADNESS

Groups turning to

local governments to

accomplish agendas

565 Local

governments

Tobacco-21

Plastic Bag Fees

Generator Mandates

Paid Sick Leave

NEW JERSEY TOWNS WITH

MANDATORY PAID SICK LEAVE

Jersey City

Newark

Paterson

Elizabeth

Passaic

East Orange

Irvington

Bloomfield

Montclair

Trenton

New Brunswick

STATEWIDE BILL HISTORY

Proposal was first introduced in May 2013

Passed the Assembly Labor Committee in October 2014

Passed the Assembly Budget Committee in December 2014

Passed the Senate Labor Committee in June 2015

Scheduled for a vote by the full Senate in June 2015 but pulled due to strong opposition

Scheduled again for a Senate vote in December 2015, passes 22-17

Both versions expired on January 12th, were immediately re-introduced

Senate breaks normal procedure and announces vote for February 11th.

STATEWIDE BATTLE LINES

Business Community vs. Worker Advocates

Conservatives vs. Moderates vs. Liberals

Senate vs. Assembly

“Preemption” is the issue

Governor Christie vs. Legislative Democrats

WHAT ARE THE SPECIFICS OF THE LAWS?

The laws already passed (and proposed

statewide) get very specific about how this leave

is treated.

Even businesses that already give out paid sick

leave to all their employees will be affected,

particularly because of the extra bookkeeping

The following slides apply to businesses in Jersey

City, Newark, Paterson, Elizabeth, Passaic, East

Orange, Irvington, Bloomfield, and Montclair.

Who is Covered?:

All employees who work within the city’s limits for at

least 80 hours per year.

What rate is it earned at:

1 hour of paid leave for every 30 hours worked

Begin earning on the 1st day of employment

It cannot be used until the 90th day of employment.

How much can be earned?

Businesses with 10 or more employees must provide

up to 40 hours of paid sick leave per year.

Businesses with fewer than 10 employees must

provide up to 24 hours of paid sick leave per year.

Can employees carry forward unused paid leave?

Yes they can, up to 40 hours

Employee still can’t use more than 40/24 in a year.

Employer is allowed to pay the employee in exchange

for not carrying over the time.

If employee leaves the company but is rehired within

6 months, they get their paid leave back.

IT’S NOT JUST THE EMPLOYEE…

Employees are allowed to take their paid leave if

any of the following is sick:

Spouse

Child

Includes biological, adopted, foster, step-child

Sibling

Parent

Spouse’s parents (in-laws)

Employee’s grandchild

Employee’s grandparent

Employee’s grandparent’s spouse

AUTHORIZED USES OF PAID SICK LEAVE

Mental or physical illness, injury, or health

condition

Diagnosis, care, or treatment of that illness

Preventative medical care

Public Health Emergency

EMPLOYER/EMPLOYEE INTERACTION

If the use of the time is foreseeable, employer can require advance notice up to one week ahead of time.

If the use was not foreseeable, employee only has to inform employer “as soon as practicable”.

Employer is not allowed to require employee find a replacement for their shift.

Employer cannot require proof of actual illness unless employee uses time for 3 consecutive work days.

PAPERWORK

At the start of employment, every employee must

be given written notice of their rights under this

law.

Employer must display a poster in the business

detailing these rights

Municipal government has likely made posters

If employer does not maintain proper records, it

is assumed the employer broke the law.

ENFORCEMENT

Employer can be fined up to $2,000 for a

violation.

Every day that a violation occurs is a separate

violation

Must also pay the affected employee the time they

were denied

“Retaliation” by employer is prohibited

“Retaliation” is defined as “any threat, discipline,

discharge, suspension, demotion, reduction of hours,

or any other adverse action”.

THE NEW BRUNSWICK DIFFERENCE

Passed in December 2015.

New Brunswick follows almost all of the same

requirements, except the numbers involved are

slightly more beneficial to employers.

Employers with fewer than 5 employees are

exempted.

STATEWIDE BILL DIFFERENCES

If business has fewer than 10 employees, sick leave is capped at 40 hours per year.

If business has more than 10 employees, sick leave is capped at 72 hours per year.

Leave does not begin to accrue until employee has worked 100 days.

Employee can use leave for reasons related to domestic violence.

Definition of family members also includes sibling of employee’s spouse.

Records must be kept for 5 years.

S-799

A BRIEF NOTE ON THE MINIMUM WAGE

In November 2013 New Jersey voters decided to

amend the state constitution to increase the

minimum wage to $8.25 an hour and

automatically increase it based on inflation.

In January 2015 the wage was increased to $8.38

an hour.

In January 2016 it was determined that inflation

was low enough that the wage did not need to be

increased.

$15 AN HOUR

Most of the same advocates for mandatory paid sick leave have begun advocating for a drastic increase in the minimum wage: to $15 an hour for all employees

A handful of cities, including Seattle, San Francisco, and Los Angeles have begun phasing in a $15 an hour minimum wage for all workers.

Sen. Bernie Sanders has called for the federal minimum wage to be increased to $15 an hour.

Hillary Clinton has said it should be $12 an hour nationally.

NEW JERSEY NOT SPARED On Monday Assembly Speaker Prieto (D)

introduced a bill to increase New Jersey’s minimum wage to $15 an hour, and then index it to inflation.

Yesterday Senate President Steve Sweeney (D) announced that he would be supporting a constitutional amendment that would ask voters to increase the wage $1 an hour every year until it reaches $15 an hour in 2024.

Last year a bill passed the Assembly Labor Committee to allow each municipality to set its own minimum wage (as long as it was higher than the statewide rate).

Head to www.njgca.org/summit

to view the proposed bill, language of the

ordinances, and for links to our “Legislative

Action Center” where you can contact your

legislators on these issues.