An ordinance expanding New York City’s Earned Safe and Sick Time Act was passed on December 24, 2021. The act provides employees, who are parents, with four hours of paid leave to accompany and care for children receiving the vaccine. Up to four hours per injection, per child is available. Covered workers who are parents or legal guardians of kids aged 5-18 or an older child with a mental or physical disability can use leave to:
- Take kids to get a COVID-19 vaccine;
- Care for kids experiencing side effects from the COVID-19 vaccine
Employers may require reasonable notice for the use of COVID vaccination leave if the leave is foreseeable, but they cannot require more than seven days notice prior to the use of the time. Employers may ask for documentation of the vaccination. The ordinance imposes penalties for failure to provide leave as follows:
- The greater of three times the wages that have not been paid or $250
- If the employee was denied leave, $500
No penalties will be imposed until after February 22, 2022. New York City Department of Consumer and Worker Protection will provide an employer with written notice of alleged violations. The employer has 15 days to cure these violations before the Department enforces the law.
The ordinance applies retroactively to November 2, 2021 and expires December 31, 2022.
For more information visit: https://www1.nyc.gov/site/dca/about/paid-sick-leave-law.page