[co-author: Leah Shepherd]

On January 28, 2026, the New Jersey Superior Court, Appellate Division, issued a landmark decision in Cano and Bonelli v. County Concrete Corp.—a case that marks the first published appellate interpretation of New Jersey’s Earned Sick Leave Law (ESLL).

Quick Hits

• Noncompliance with New Jersey’s Earned Sick Leave Law’s recordkeeping requirements creates a presumption that an employer failed to provide the earned sick leave required by the law.
• Vacation/PTO policies relied upon by employers to comply with the ESLL must provide paid leave for all purposes required by the ESLL.
• Failure to provide earned sick leave constitutes failure to pay wages under NJWHL, subjecting employers to claims for liquidated damages at 200 percent.

Under the ESLL, no formal class certification or collective action procedure is required to bring a claim on behalf of “other similarly situated workers.”

The Appellate Division affirmed that a concrete supplier’s paid leave policy violated several sections of the ESLL, including notice and recordkeeping requirements and providing paid sick leave, and that the company did not fall within the ESLL’s “construction industry” exemption. It also affirmed the standards required to assert an ESLL claim on behalf of other employees similarly situated without class certification or collective action procedures. This decision clarifies important questions for employers about the ESLL exemptions, the financial risks of noncompliance,...

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