Westchester County employers generally must provide paid or unpaid sick leave to covered employees. The following chart generally explains the law and its requirements.
| Which Employers Are Covered? | Generally all employers. |
| Which Employees Are Covered? | Generally employees employed in Westchester County for more than 80 hours in a calendar year. |
| Must an Employer Compensate Leave? | Yes, depending on employer size:Employers with 5 or more employees generally must provide paid sick leave compensated at the employee’s normal hourly rate. However, an employer does not have to provide financial or other reimbursement to an employee upon termination, resignation, or retirement for unused accrued sick leave.Employers with fewer than 5 employees must provide unpaid sick leave. |
| How Much Leave May an Employee Accrue and Use? | 40 hours in a year. Unused sick leave can be carried over to the following year, but employers are not required to provide more than 40 hours in a year. |
| How Does an Employee Accrue Leave? | Employees generally accrue a minimum of 1 hour of sick leave for every 30 hours worked. |
| When Can Employees Begin Accruing and Using Leave? | Employees generally begin accruing leave at the commencement of employment or July 10, 2019, whichever is later. However, an employer may delay an employee’s ability to use sick leave until he or she has worked for 90 days. |
| Which Life Events Qualify for Leave? | In general, sick leave may be used for an employee’s or family member’s mental or physical illness, injury, health condition, or preventive medical care. |
| Are Employers Required to Post or Provide Employees with Notices Regarding the Law? | Yes. Employers must:At the commencement of employment or by July 10, 2019, whichever is later, give each employee a copy of the law and written notice of how it applies to that employee.Display a copy of the law and a poster regarding the law in English, Spanish, and any other language deemed appropriate by the County of Westchester in a conspicuous location accessible to the employee. |
| May Employers Require Notice When Employees Use Leave? | Generally yes, in accordance with the following rules:Sick leave must be provided upon an employee’s request, which, when possible, must include the expected duration of the absence.When the use of sick leave is foreseeable, the employee must make a good faith effort to provide notice in advance and a reasonable effort to schedule the leave in a manner that does not unduly disrupt the employer’s operations.An employer that requires notice of the need to use sick leave must provide a written policy containing the procedures to provide notice. An employer that has not provided a copy of its written policy to the employee must not deny sick leave based on noncompliance with such policy. |
| May Employers Require Documentation for Leave? | Sometimes. For sick leave of more than 3 consecutive work days, an employer generally may require reasonable documentation that the leave has been used for a purpose covered by the law. |
| Must Employers Retain Records? | Yes. Employers must retain records clearly documenting the hours worked and sick leave accrued and taken by employees for 3 years. |
Additional requirements and exceptions to the information above may apply. For more information, please contact the Westchester County Human Rights Commission at 914-995-7710.
Please Note: The state laws summaries featured on this site are for general informational purposes only. In addition to state law, certain municipalities may enact legislation that imposes different requirements. State and local laws change frequently and, as such, we cannot guarantee the accuracy or completeness of the information featured in the State Laws section. For more detailed information regarding state or local laws, please contact your state labor department or the appropriate local government agency.