New Jersey Cities Pass Paid Sick Leave Legislation

Executive Summary

Coverage:  All clients with employees working in the cities of the cities of Passaic, East Orange, Paterson, and Irvington.

Effective Date: The Passaic ordinance becomes effective December 31, 2014; the East Orange ordinance on January 6, 2015; the Paterson and Irvington ordinances on January 7, 2015; and the Montclair and Trenton ordinances on March 4, 2015.

Overview:   The cities of Passaic, East Orange, Paterson, and Irvington recently passed their own paid sick leave ordinances that will provide the majority of private employees working in those cities with paid sick leave.

Action Required: We are in the process of developing model polices to comply with these ordinances and will send the model policies to clients in the near future.  We will also notify clients when any model posters / notices are released by the cities.

The Details

The new ordinances for Passaic, East Orange, Paterson, and Irvington closely track Newark’s ordinance (but not Jersey City’s ordinance). More information on the Newark ordinance.

Employer Coverage

Employers with 10 or more employees in the cities above must provide up to 40 hours of paid sick leave per calendar year, and employers with fewer than 10 employees must provide up to 24 hours of paid sick leave per calendar year.

Accrual

Employees covered by the ordinances will accrue at least one hour of paid sick leave for every 30 hours worked, and exempt employees are assumed to work 40 hours per week.

Notice of Rights

Employers in these cities must provide all covered employees with a written notice explaining their rights under the ordinances upon hire, or for current employees, as soon as practicable following the law’s effective date. Employers must also display a poster informing employees of their rights under the ordinances. We will notify clients as soon as any model posters and/or notices are released by the cities. 

Records

The ordinances require employers to maintain adequate records documenting the amount of hours worked by each eligible employee and the amount of sick leave taken.

Minor Differences

The Passaic, East Orange, Paterson, Irvington, Montclair, and Trenton ordinances are almost identical to the Newark ordinance. However, they differ with respect to use of paid sick time.  
Under the Newark ordinance, for example, an employer can determine whether paid sick time may be used in increments of less than one day, but under the Passaic, East Orange, Paterson, Montclair, and Trenton ordinances, accrued sick time may be used in either hourly increments or the smallest increment that the employer’s payroll system uses to account for absences or use of other time.

As always, please contact your HR Business Partner if you have any questions.