If you work for a private employer in New York, you earn sick leave under Labor Law Section 196-b from your first day on the job, no matter your industry, hours, or exempt status.1New York State. New York Paid Sick Leave New York sick time requirements set the amount you accrue, whether it is paid, what you can use it for, and what your employer can ask when you take it. How much you get and whether you’re paid depend on your employer’s size and income. The smallest, lowest-earning businesses owe up to 40 hours of unpaid leave a year; the largest owe up to 56 hours of paid leave.
How Much Sick Leave You Get
The statute sorts employers into four tiers based on headcount and, for the smallest businesses, revenue from the previous tax year.2New York State Senate. New York Labor Law 196-B – Sick Leave Requirements
- 1–4 employees with net income of $1 million or less: up to 40 hours of unpaid sick leave.
- 1–4 employees with net income above $1 million: up to 40 hours of paid sick leave.
- 5–99 employees: up to 40 hours of paid sick leave, regardless of revenue.
- 100 or more employees: up to 56 hours of paid sick leave.
Headcount includes everyone on payroll during the calendar year, so part-time and seasonal workers count toward the tier even if they aren’t full-time.1New York State. New York Paid Sick Leave
How You Earn It
You accrue one hour of sick leave for every 30 hours worked, starting on your first day.2New York State Senate. New York Labor Law 196-B – Sick Leave Requirements If you ask, your employer has to give you a summary of the hours you’ve accrued and used within three business days.1New York State. New York Paid Sick Leave
Your employer can skip the hour-by-hour math and frontload the full annual amount at the start of the calendar year. If they do, they cannot later claw back hours based on how much you actually worked.2New York State Senate. New York Labor Law 196-B – Sick Leave Requirements
Unused hours carry over to the next year. Carryover protects your bank, but your employer can still cap your actual use in any single year at the tier maximum of 40 or 56 hours.2New York State Senate. New York Labor Law 196-B – Sick Leave Requirements
One point that surprises people: when you quit, retire, or get fired, your employer does not owe you a payout for unused sick leave. The statute says so explicitly.2New York State Senate. New York Labor Law 196-B – Sick Leave Requirements Some employers pay it out as a matter of policy, but the law doesn’t make them.
What You Can Use It For
The law covers two categories of absence: sick leave for health reasons and safe leave for personal safety situations.
Sick leave covers mental or physical illness, injury, or health conditions affecting you or a family member, whether or not there’s a formal diagnosis. It also covers preventive care, diagnosis, and treatment, so a routine checkup counts.2New York State Senate. New York Labor Law 196-B – Sick Leave Requirements
Safe leave applies when you or a family member is a victim of domestic violence, a family offense, a sexual offense, stalking, or human trafficking. You can use it to relocate, meet with an attorney, attend court, or seek services from a victim assistance organization.1New York State. New York Paid Sick Leave
Who Counts as a Family Member
The definition is wide. It includes your child, spouse, domestic partner, parent, sibling, grandchild, grandparent, and the child or parent of your spouse or domestic partner. “Parent” covers biological, foster, step, and adoptive parents, legal guardians, and anyone who stood in a parental role when you were a minor. “Child” extends the same way, plus anyone you’re responsible for day to day.2New York State Senate. New York Labor Law 196-B – Sick Leave Requirements
Notice and Documentation
You can request leave verbally or in writing. For an unforeseeable absence like a sudden illness, your employer can’t demand a set amount of advance notice.
Your employer cannot ask for a doctor’s note or any other documentation unless your absence runs more than three consecutive workdays.2New York State Senate. New York Labor Law 196-B – Sick Leave Requirements Even then, the documentation can only confirm that leave was needed and how long it lasted. You cannot be made to disclose a diagnosis or the details of a domestic violence situation.1New York State. New York Paid Sick Leave Whatever health or safety information your employer does collect has to be kept confidential and stored separately from your regular personnel file.
Pay and Getting Your Job Back
Paid sick leave is paid at your regular hourly rate or the applicable minimum wage, whichever is higher.1New York State. New York Paid Sick Leave Your employer cannot cut your pay, reduce your benefits, or dock your seniority because you used the time.
When you come back, you must be returned to the same position, with the same pay, benefits, and terms. The restoration right applies even to short absences.2New York State Senate. New York Labor Law 196-B – Sick Leave Requirements
Retaliation Is Prohibited
Your employer cannot fire, threaten, penalize, or otherwise retaliate against you for requesting or using sick leave.2New York State Senate. New York Labor Law 196-B – Sick Leave Requirements If they do, you can seek back pay, liquidated damages, and civil penalties ranging from $1,000 to $2,500 per instance depending on the violation.
Retaliation doesn’t have to look like a firing. Cutting your hours after a sick day, passing you over for a promotion, or writing you up for a covered absence can all qualify. If it feels punitive, document it.
Filing a Complaint
If your employer denies you sick leave, refuses to pay for it, or retaliates, you can file with the New York State Department of Labor’s Division of Labor Standards. Start with the Labor Standards Complaint Form (LS 223), available on the Department of Labor’s website.3New York State Department of Labor. Labor Standards Complaint Form LS223 The form asks for basic information about your employer and the specific leave denied or unpaid.
If You Work in New York City
New York City employees are covered by both the state law and the city’s Earned Safe and Sick Time Act. Where they overlap, the more protective rule wins. The city law adds 32 hours of unpaid protected time off available from the first day of work, separate from the paid 40 or 56 hours, and 20 hours of paid prenatal leave that cannot be deducted from your regular sick leave bank.4NYC Department of Consumer and Worker Protection. NYC’s Protected Time Off Law NYC workers also have the right to request temporary schedule changes, such as remote work or a shift swap, for the same reasons that qualify for safe and sick leave. City employees can file complaints through the NYC Department of Consumer and Worker Protection instead of, or in addition to, the state.
How It Fits with FMLA and Paid Family Leave
State sick leave is the baseline. The federal Family and Medical Leave Act provides up to 12 weeks of unpaid, job-protected leave per year, but only at employers with 50 or more employees and only for workers who have logged at least 1,250 hours in the prior 12 months.5U.S. Department of Labor. Fact Sheet 28 – The Family and Medical Leave Act If you qualify for both, your employer may run them concurrently for overlapping conditions, meaning the same hours count against each.
New York Paid Family Leave is a separate insurance program that provides partial wage replacement for bonding with a new child, caring for a family member with a serious health condition, or certain military-related needs. It’s funded through employee payroll deductions. You generally cannot use Paid Family Leave and state sick leave at the same time for the same absence, though accrued sick leave may cover a waiting period or supplement partial Paid Family Leave benefits if your employer’s policy allows.
State sick leave kicks in faster, covers smaller employers, and handles everyday health needs that don’t rise to FMLA’s serious-condition threshold. For longer or more severe situations, FMLA or Paid Family Leave may layer on top of it.