In December 2020, the New York State Department of Labor (“NYSDOL”) issued proposed regulations on the New York State Paid Sick Leave (“NYSPSL”) Law. We reported on the proposed regulations here. By way of summary, the proposed regulations addressed the manner in which employees are to be counted for purposes of determining employer coverage under the NYSPSL Law, the extent to which employers can request documentation in connection with an employee’s use of sick leave, and sick leave accrual issues.

Over a year later, on December 22, 2021, NYSDOL issued a Notice of Adoption by which it adopted the proposed regulations with no substantive changes. As a result, the proposed regulations are now final and effective as of December 22, 2021.

In its Notice of Adoption, NYSDOL discussed over 25 categories of public comments it received in response to the proposed regulations, but declined to revise the regulations based on those comments. While NYSDOL disposed of most of the public comments in summary fashion, employers should take note of a few key points:

• For purposes of determining an employer’s headcount and therefore its obligations under the NYSPSL Law, NYSDOL “interprets the statute to include all employees of the employer nationwide. However, the requirement for sick leave applies only to employees in New York State” (emphasis added).
• NYSDOL is not creating a different “joint employer” standard for NYSPSL purposes and will defer to “existing and settled law, court...

Read Full Story: https://www.jdsupra.com/legalnews/new-york-state-department-of-labor-3266194/