1. NEW JERSEY PAID SICK LEAVE: WHAT EVERY EMPLOYER SHOULD KNOW
PRESENTED BY JENNIFER ROSELLE, ESQ.
AND
KATHARINE FINA, ESQ.

2. PAID SICK LEAVE IN NEW JERSEY

3. Paid Sick Leave Laws Across the Country
New Jersey is one of 10 states to implement a paid sick leave law. Those states include Arizona, California, Connecticut, Maryland, Massachusetts, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Washington State, plus the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico.
*Map Courtesy of SHRM.com

4. NEW JERSEY PAID SICK LEAVE ACT
Signed into law on May 2, 2018
Effective October 29, 2018
DOL POSTING
Employer size is irrelevant
Right of accrual
Frontloading versus accumulation.
The content of this presentation is intended for informational purposes only. It is not intended to solicit business or to provide legal advice. Your use of the presentation does not create an attorney-client relationship between you and Genova Burns LLC.

5. Employee Eligibility: Who is Entitled to Paid Sick Leave?
Applies to all employees except:
Per diem healthcare employees;
Construction workers subject to a Collective Bargaining Agreement (“CBA”);
Public employees with fully paid sick leave; and
Special rules for non-construction employees covered by CBA.
The content of this presentation is intended for informational purposes only. It is not intended to solicit business or to provide legal advice. Your use of the presentation does not create an attorney-client relationship between you and Genova Burns LLC.

6. How Does an Employee Accrue Paid Sick Leave?
Employees earn paid sick leave based on time worked.
Current employees begin earning paid sick leave on the law’s effective date of October 29, 2018
Those hired after October 29, 2018 begin earning paid sick leave on their date of hire.
Earned time for new employees is not immediately available.
The content of this presentation is intended for informational purposes only. It is not intended to solicit business or to provide legal advice. Your use of the presentation does not create an attorney-client relationship between you and Genova Burns LLC.

7. Qualifying Reasons to Use Paid Sick Leave
Eligible employees can use sick leave:
For diagnosis, care, treatment, recovery and/or preventive care for the employee’s own mental or physical illness or injury;
To care for a family member during their diagnosis, care, treatment, recovery and/or preventive care;
For absence due to a public health emergency declared by a public health 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;
For absence due to medical, legal or other victim services relating to domestic or sexual violence perpetrated on the employee or his/her family member;
To attend 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 content of this presentation is intended for informational purposes only. It is not intended to solicit business or to provide legal advice. Your use of the presentation does not create an attorney-client relationship between you and Genova Burns LLC.

8. Example
Jane has been with ABC employer for 6 months. She has a conference to attend for her child and would like to request to use her accrued leave.
Can Jane use her paid sick time to attend the conference?
The content of this presentation is intended for informational purposes only. It is not intended to solicit business or to provide legal advice. Your use of the presentation does not create an attorney-client relationship between you and Genova Burns LLC.

9. Paid Sick Leave and Separation from Employment: Use it or Lose it
Earned paid sick leave survives transfers, reassignments, and separations followed by reinstatement within 6 months.
Employers are not required to payout accrued and/or unused sick leave upon an employee’s termination or separation (unless a policy or CBA provides such).
Example: John has earned 3 days of paid sick time. He has resigned from his position before using all his time off. John asked if he could have his earned time paid out. What is the employer’s obligation?
The content of this presentation is intended for informational purposes only. It is not intended to solicit business or to provide legal advice. Your use of the presentation does not create an attorney-client relationship between you and Genova Burns LLC.

10. Employee Requesting to Use Paid Sick Leave?
Limits attach to what an employer may require in connection with an employee’s request:
Replacements
Notice
Additional worktime
The content of this presentation is intended for informational purposes only. It is not intended to solicit business or to provide legal advice. Your use of the presentation does not create an attorney-client relationship between you and Genova Burns LLC.

11. Notice Requirements Notice depends on circumstance
Foreseeable Need
Unforeseeable Need
Restrictions on certain dates
Documentation
The content of this presentation is intended for informational purposes only. It is not intended to solicit business or to provide legal advice. Your use of the presentation does not create an attorney-client relationship between you and Genova Burns LLC.

12. DOCUMENT, DOCUMENT, DOCUMENT!
Maintain records that document an employee’s hours worked, earned sick leave, and use of any sick leave;
Maintain records for 5 years;
Make all records available for inspection by the New Jersey Department of Labor.
If an employer fails to maintain adequate records, the employer is presumed to have failed to provide paid sick leave.
The content of this presentation is intended for informational purposes only. It is not intended to solicit business or to provide legal advice. Your use of the presentation does not create an attorney-client relationship between you and Genova Burns LLC.

13. Anti-Retaliation: Part One
Employers are prohibited from retaliating or discriminating against employees under the Act. An employer may not:
suspend, demote, or be refuse a promotion for utilizing their entitled paid sick leave;
report or threaten to report the immigration status of any employee or his/her family;
retaliate or discriminate against an employee who files a complaint with the commissioner or a court alleging the employer’s violation of the Act.
retaliate or discriminate against an employee who notifies any other person of their rights under the Act.
The content of this presentation is intended for informational purposes only. It is not intended to solicit business or to provide legal advice. Your use of the presentation does not create an attorney-client relationship between you and Genova Burns LLC.

14. Anti-Retaliation: Part Two
Rebuttable presumption of unlawful retaliatory act if adverse action is taken against an employee, within 90 days of when that employee:
Files a complaint with NJDOLWD alleging a violation of the Act;
Informs any person about the employer’s alleged violation of the Act;
Cooperates in an investigation any alleged violation of the Act;
Opposes any policy, practice or act that is unlawful under the Act; or
Informs any person of his/her rights under the Act.
The content of this presentation is intended for informational purposes only. It is not intended to solicit business or to provide legal advice. Your use of the presentation does not create an attorney-client relationship between you and Genova Burns LLC.

15. Employer Penalties for Violation of the Act
Employers who fail to make paid sick leave available or fail to pay earned sick leave as required under the Act may be deemed to fail to meet the state’s wage payment requirements under the New Jersey Wage and Hour Law, penalties for which may include:
fines,
imprisonment,
reinstatement of a discharged employee to correct any discriminatory action,
and/or payment of all lost wages in full.
The content of this presentation is intended for informational purposes only. It is not intended to solicit business or to provide legal advice. Your use of the presentation does not create an attorney-client relationship between you and Genova Burns LLC.

16. Interplay with other State and Federal Laws
Family Medical Leave Act (“FMLA”)
Job protection
12 weeks unpaid
NJ Family Leave Act
12 weeks per 24 months unpaid
Family Temporary Disability Leave Law
NJ Safe Act

17. Interplay with other State and Federal Laws
Federal and state laws, such as Family Medical Leave Act, Americans’ with Disabilities Act, and New Jersey Family Leave Act take precedence when law require employers to do more that Earned Sick Leave Act
Run Concurrently with FMLA and NJFMLA

18. New Law, New Policies: What Does This Mean for Employers?
Employers are highly encouraged to make the appropriate changes to be in compliance with the law. Employers may want to revise:
Handbooks;
Policies and training;
Employment agreements (should they make reference to time-off);
Employer practices; and
Employer procedures for calculating time off.
The content of this presentation is intended for informational purposes only. It is not intended to solicit business or to provide legal advice. Your use of the presentation does not create an attorney-client relationship between you and Genova Burns LLC.

19. THE WRAP UP QUESTIONS? CONCERNS? COMMENTS? THANK YOU!
The content of this presentation is intended for informational purposes only. It is not intended to solicit business or to provide legal advice. Your use of the presentation does not create an attorney-client relationship between you and Genova Burns LLC.