Labor Law Updates – August 2020

These briefs provide a general description and are not meant to be all inclusive of compliance requirements.  This list is not inclusive of all legislative changes for employers across the U.S. Changes may have been addressed in previous updates, which can be accessed from our blog.

Employers are encouraged to work with their Inspiring HR Consultant before making policy changes to capture the full requirements of these laws.

Some of the notable newly active and upcoming state changes in this issue are as follows:

CALIFORNIA

California Pre-Employment Regulations

Effective in July 2020, the state of California has updated its pre-hire regulations to further prohibit practices that may lead to illegal discrimination based on protected classes. Prohibited practices will now include, but are not limited to: asking for candidate age and school graduation dates, inquiries about schedule availability to ascertain religious practice, medical condition or disability and/or using language in job advertisements alluding to desired candidate age group (e.g. “young” “recent college grad,” “tech native.”)  https://www.dfeh.ca.gov/wp-content/uploads/sites/32/2020/04/FinalTextEmployRegReligiousCreedAgeDiscrimination.pdf

NEW YORK        

New York Sick Leave Law – Effective September 30, 2020

All New York employers and employers who have employees working in New York are required to provide sick leave under the following guidelines.

Employers with four or fewer employees

Employers must provide a minimum of one hour of unpaid sick time for every 30 hours, up to 40 hours (five days) per year.  Employers must allow employees to rollover up to 40 hours of accrued but unused sick time into the next year.

Employers with 5-99 employees or employers with four or fewer employees and a net income of $1Million or more

Employers must provide a minimum of one hour of paid sick time for every 30 hours, up to 40 hours (five days) per year.  Employers must allow employees to rollover up to 40 hours of accrued but unused sick time into the next year.

Employers with 100 or more employees

Employers must provide a minimum of one hour of paid sick time for every 30 hours, up to 56 hours (seven days) per year.  Employers must allow employees to rollover up to 56 hours of accrued but unused sick time into the next year.

Employees may use sick time for the following:

• The employee’s own mental or physical illness, injury or health condition; the need for medical diagnosis, care or treatment of the employee’s own mental or physical illness, injury or health condition; or the need for preventative medical care;
• The care of a family member who needs: medical diagnosis, care or treatment for a mental or physical illness, injury or health condition; or preventative medical care;
• The employee or the employee’s family member is victim of domestic violence, a family offense, sexual offense, stalking or human trafficking for the following reasons:
  • To obtain services from a domestic violence shelter, rape crisis center or other services program;
  • Participate in safety planning, relocate or take other actions to protect the employee’s safety or that of employee’s family members, including enrolling children in a new school;
  • Meet with an attorney or social service provider to obtain information and advice related to custody, visitation, matrimonial issues, orders of protection, immigration, housing and discrimination in employment, housing or consumer credit;
  • File a domestic incident report with law enforcement or meet with a district attorney’s office;
  • To enroll children in a new school; or
  • To take any other actions necessary to ensure the health or safety of the employee or the employee’s family member or to protect those who associate or work with the employee.

Employees must begin accruing sick leave on September 30, 2020; however, employers are not required to allow the use of the sick time until January 1, 2021. As of January 1, 2021, all employees may use any accrued sick time with no waiting period.

For more information regarding the New York Sick Leave, please contact our partners at inspiringhr.com. One of their HR Consultants will be happy to assist you in understanding this law.

This article does not constitute legal advice and there are subtle variations in employment law as it pertains to this topic, depending on where your business operates. It is strongly suggested that you seek consultation or legal counsel before making decisions about policies.