The Calcalist business journal’s 2020 Edition of Mapped Israeli Startups in New York reported that at least 350 Israel-based start-up companies have satellite employees located in the State of New York. These companies should be aware that as of January 1, 2021, New York employees will have enhanced paid sick leave rights, as discussed below by the Labor and Employment attorneys in Greenberg Traurig’s New York office. Companies with New York employees should be sure that their sick time policies and practices are in compliance with the new legal requirements. For more information, please contact Greenberg Traurig Labor and Employment Shareholder Meira Ferziger, located in Greenberg Traurig’s Tel Aviv office.

New York state’s new paid sick leave law will mandate the payment of sick leave to employees in New York state beginning Jan. 1, 2021. As discussed below, the New York City Earned Safe and Sick Time law, which has already required sick time for New York City employees, was amended this week to enhance the terms of that law largely in accordance with the New York state law.

The new state law requires every employer in the state of New York to provide its employees with sick leave, though the amount depends on the size of the employer. Employers with four or fewer employees must provide each employee with up to 40 hours of unpaid sick leave in each calendar year. However, if an employer of this size has a net income of greater than one million dollars in the previous tax year, the employer must provide each employee with up to 40 hours of paid sick leave. For employers with between five and 99 employees, each employee must be provided with up to 40 hours of paid sick leave in a calendar year. Finally, for employers with 100 or more employees in any calendar year, each employee must be provided with up to 56 hours of paid sick leave in each calendar year.

The requirements under New York state’s new sick leave law are a floor. Nothing in the new law prevents an employer from going above and beyond the minimum requirements. Therefore, if an employer already maintains, or hereafter adopts, a sick leave policy or time off policy that provides employees with an amount of leave which meets or exceeds the requirements of the new sick leave law and satisfies the accrual, carryover, and use requirements, the employer need not provide any additional sick leave pursuant to the new law.

Read the full GT Alert.