We previously blogged about the Jersey City and Newark Ordinances requiring private employers to provide paid sick leave to employees. [Jersey City Implements Paid Sick Leave Requirement and Newark City Council Introduces Paid Sick Leave Ordinance and Update: Jersey City Sick Leave Ordinance Posters Now Available For Employers ]. Several other municipalities have also passed similar ordinances a requiring sick leave. Consistent with this approach, the State of New Jersey appears to be moving closer to passing its own bill.

Ordinances have been passed in Passaic, Newark, East Orange, Jersey City, Irvington, Paterson, Montclair, and Trenton. Each ordinance has its own requirements, effective dates, and methods of administration. For employers that operate in multiple locations, compliance may prove tricky. Employers should review, create, and/or modify policies to ensure compliance with all applicable laws. If an employer is operating in one or more of these jurisdictions, it should become familiar with the new laws, including the reasons employees may use sick time, the amount of sick time an employee may use, and the documentation that employers may request when employees use accrued sick time.

On December 15, 2014, the Assembly Budget Committee approved A-2354, a proposed state-wide, paid sick leave bill. The Committee’s approval sets the bill up for a floor vote in the Assembly. In its current form, this bill would require employers to provide earned sick leave at the rate of one hour for every 30 hours worked to each covered employee. Employees would begin accruing sick leave on the first day of employment, would be able to use the leave to care for themselves or certain other individuals, and be permitted to carry over sick leave (subject to certain caps depending on the size of the employer) or receive a payment for unused hours in certain circumstances.