New Jersey Paid Sick Leave Act: Enforcement Date 10/29/2018

As an employer in the state of New Jersey, you may have already heard the news. Earlier this year, Governor Phil Murphy signed into law the New Jersey Paid Sick Leave Act.

With the law going into effect on October 29, 2018, it’s imperative to understand the finer details of the act and how it will impact your business.

Here’s the most important thing to remember: the new law requires employers, regardless of size, to provide workers with up to 40 hours of paid sick leave during an employer established benefit year.

Also of note, the new law preempts any city and county paid sick leave ordinances that are currently in place.

In addition to the above, there are other points of interest for both employers and employees:

  • Employees accrue hours at a rate of 1 hour for every 30 hours they work
  • Employers have the power to provide all employees with 40 hours of paid sick leave, as opposed to using the accrual system
  • Employees are permitted to use paid sick leave for: diagnosis, treatment, care, and recovery of their own medical condition; diagnosis, treatment, care, and recovery of a family member’s medical condition; if the employee or a family member is a victim of sexual or domestic abuse; if the workplace, childcare, or school is closed over a public health concern; or to attend a school related meeting
  • In the event that an employee uses three or more consecutive days of paid sick leave, the employer has the right to request documentation regarding their time off
  • Employers are required to document all paid sick leave, while also maintaining records for a minimum of five years

Note: for more information, here is a copy of the legislation from the New Jersey Legislature.

Note: a poster is required to be displayed at all company locations, even if there are no eligible employees working there.

What You Need To Do as an Employer
Business owners, HR professionals, and compliance specialists should take the right steps at the right time.
With the law going into effect on October 29, 2018, you are required to notify your employees.
You can do this in two ways:

  1. Issue a notice to each employee at your business regarding the changes, and take necessary steps within your workplace operations to comply
  2. Post updated labor law posters in New Jersey to ensure employees are regularly aware of updated labor law updates. This is required by state law. Order your New Jersey and federal all-in-one labor law poster which includes the updated notice. This will keep you compliant with labor law poster requirements to ensure your employees are informed with the latest labor law updates.

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