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New York Paid Sick Leave Explained: Four Tiers, One Tax Return
New York Labor Law 196-b sets four employer tiers. At 100 or more employees the entitlement is 56 hours a year. From 5 to 99 employees it is 40 paid hours. At four or fewer it is 40 hours, paid only where net income passed $1 million in the previous tax year, and otherwise unpaid. Accrual is one hour per 30 worked.
New York does not have one paid sick leave answer. Labor Law 196-b builds four of them, and the input that decides which applies is not only the number of employees. At the smallest tier the state reads the previous tax year's net income, which no other state does.
| Employer | Hours a year | Paid or unpaid |
|---|---|---|
| 100 or more employees | 56 | Paid |
| 5 to 99 employees | 40 | Paid |
| 4 or fewer, net income above $1 million last tax year | 40 | Paid |
| 4 or fewer, net income at or below $1 million | 40 | Unpaid, but still owed |
What New York requires
| Paid sick leave mandate | None statewide for private employers |
|---|---|
| Governing rule | Your written policy, enforced as written |
| State paid family and medical leave | Yes, employer registration and withholding required |
| Minimum wage | $17.00 in NYC, Nassau, Suffolk, and Westchester; $16.00 rest of state |
| Overtime | Weekly over 40 (44 for residential workers) |
| Coverage below the 20-employee COBRA line | New York State Continuation Coverage, up to 36 months [N.Y. Ins. Law sections 3221(m), 4304(k), 4305(e); Chapter 236 and Chapter 498 of the Laws of 2009] |
Crossing a tier moves the obligation immediately
Growth changes the answer mid-year. An employer that passes 99 employees during the calendar year owes the 56-hour entitlement from that point, not from the following January, which means a hiring round can change a leave obligation with no leave-related decision being made by anybody.
The reverse is not symmetrical. An employer whose headcount falls does not get to reduce the entitlement part-way through the year. That combination, immediate increase and delayed decrease, is what makes an annual headcount review insufficient in New York and a monthly one closer to adequate.
Accrual, carryover and what cannot be asked
Accrual is one hour for every 30 hours worked, or the employer may front-load the whole annual amount at the start of the year. Unused hours carry over, but the employer need not permit use above the tier amount in any one year, so carryover builds the balance rather than the entitlement. Unused hours are not paid out at separation.
New York also restricts the documentation an employer may demand. For a short absence, no medical documentation may be required, and where it may be required the employer cannot ask for the nature of the illness or the details of the underlying condition. A request form that asks what is wrong is the violation, whatever happens to the request.
New York City and Westchester sit on top
New York City's Earned Safe and Sick Time Act, enforced by the Department of Consumer and Worker Protection, runs alongside the state rule, and Westchester County has its own law as well. Where the two differ the employee takes the better term, so a New York City employer in practice administers the city rule with the state rule underneath as a floor.
For an employer with offices in Manhattan, White Plains and Buffalo, that is three configurations in one state, decided by the work address rather than by where the company is registered. HR outsourcing in New York is largely the work of keeping the tier test, the city overlay and the separate leave programmes from being collapsed into a single policy paragraph.
Three other New York entitlements that are not sick leave
- Paid prenatal personal leave. A separate block of paid hours for pregnancy-related medical care, available at every private employer and not drawn from the sick leave balance.
- New York Paid Family Leave. Wage replacement for bonding, family care and military-family needs, funded by employee payroll deduction and paid through an insurance policy rather than by the employer directly.
- Statutory short-term disability. New York has required disability benefits coverage for an employee's own non-work illness or injury since long before paid sick leave existed, and it is a separate policy, a separate claim and a separate premium.
Four programmes, four funding models, one employee. A handbook that describes them as a single leave benefit will misstate at least three of them.
FMLA, remote-hire exposure and voluntary policy drafting: paid leave fundamentals.
For New York specifically: the accrual and carryover rules above are statutory in New York, not discretionary, the wage floor those hours are paid at is $17.00 in NYC, Nassau, Suffolk, and Westchester; $16.00 rest of state, and below the federal 20-employee COBRA threshold New York still requires continuation coverage for up to 36 months, and the state paid family and medical leave programme carries its own contribution and claim mechanics. HR outsourcing in New York keeps that in the handbook and in payroll.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Does New York require paid sick leave?
No. New York has no statewide requirement for private employers, so whatever your handbook says is the enforceable rule, including on carryover and payout. Hours you do pay are paid at $17.00 in NYC, Nassau, Suffolk, and Westchester; $16.00 rest of state.
What pay rate applies to leave hours in New York?
Minimum wage in New York is $17.00 in NYC, Nassau, Suffolk, and Westchester; $16.00 rest of state. Overtime: Weekly over 40 (44 for residential workers). Paid leave hours generally do not count toward the overtime threshold because they are not hours worked.
Does health coverage continue after separation in New York?
Federal COBRA applies at 20 or more employees. Below that, New York has its own continuation law, the New York State Continuation Coverage, running up to 36 months (N.Y. Ins. Law sections 3221(m), 4304(k), 4305(e); Chapter 236 and Chapter 498 of the Laws of 2009).
Does New York run a paid family and medical leave programme?
Yes. It is separate from sick leave, usually funded by payroll contributions, and registration and withholding are the employer's job. Federal FMLA still applies on top at 50 or more employees.
Why does New York look at net income as well as headcount?
Only at the smallest tier. An employer with four or fewer employees owes 40 hours either way, and the previous tax year net income figure decides whether those hours are paid or unpaid. It is the only paid sick leave test in the country that reads a tax return, and it means two four-person businesses on the same street can owe different things.
When does a New York employer move up a tier?
When the headcount crosses the line during the calendar year, and the increase applies from that point rather than from the following January. Moving down does not work the same way: an employer that shrinks keeps the higher entitlement for the rest of the year. The asymmetry is deliberate and it catches employers who recalculate every January and never in between.
How does New York City sick leave fit with the state rule?
New York City runs the Earned Safe and Sick Time Act on top of the state law, administered by the Department of Consumer and Worker Protection, and Westchester County runs its own law as well. Where the terms differ the employee gets the better one, so a New York City employer is complying with the city rule in practice and the state rule as a floor.
What is New York paid prenatal leave and is it part of sick leave?
It is separate. New York requires paid prenatal personal leave for pregnancy-related medical care as its own block of hours, available to employees of every private employer, and it does not draw down the sick leave balance. An employer that pays prenatal appointments out of the sick leave bank has provided one entitlement and not the other.
Is this a PEO?
No. No co-employment and no employer-of-record change: your company stays the employer. HR outsourcing, powered by isolved.
Anthony leads HR outsourcing strategy at Business Executive Group, a national HR outsourcing firm serving employers across every state. BEG HR outsourcing is powered by isolved, with certified HR professionals building and maintaining state-correct leave policy as laws change.
Sources: New York State Department of Labor, paid sick leave; New York City Department of Consumer and Worker Protection. Compare every state on paid sick leave by state. General leave information, not legal advice.
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