NYS Paid Sick Leave Mandate – New York’s paid sick leave mandate, adopted earlier this year, requires sick time to start accruing effective 9/30/20 with benefits available 1/1/21. On Tuesday, the NYS Labor Department released long-awaited guidance and FAQ's regarding the new paid sick leave law that applies to all private sector businesses in the state. Find the guidance here and FAQ’s here. 

Time Off to Vote - New York State election law (§ 3-110) imposes several requirements on employers. All employers, regardless of size, must allow an employee up to two hours, with pay, to vote if such employee is a registered voter and “does not have sufficient time outside of his or her scheduled working hours, within which to vote on any day at which he or she may vote.” The law provides that if an employee has four consecutive hours either between the opening of the polls and the beginning of their work shift or between the end of their work shift and the closing of the polls, they are deemed to have sufficient time to vote and are not eligible for paid time off. An employee who requires time off to vote is required to notify their employer at least two days prior to election day. An employer may designate that time off to be taken either at the beginning or end of an employee’s work shift, unless otherwise mutually agreed. Given that the state now has ten-day advanced voting, it is unlikely that many employees will still qualify for additional paid time off to vote. Finally, not less than 10 days before election day, all employers are required to conspicuously post a notice regarding these time off provisions. (Note – many employers already satisfy this requirement as part of their general labor law postings.) The state Board of Elections has a summary of the law and a sample poster available here, and FAQ document available here.

The moratorium on commercial evictions is extended until January 1st. This measure extends protections already in place for commercial tenants and mortgagors in recognition of the financial toll the pandemic has taken on business owners, including retail establishments and restaurants. This date aligns with the moratorium on residential evictions.