Are You Feeling Sick? New York City Passes a New Sick Leave Law

If at first you don’t succeed, try and try again. That is what the New York City Council (the Council) has done since 2009. And after four years, the result is a controversial sick leave law, the Earned Sick Time Act (the Act), which grants many employees in New York City up to 40 hours of paid sick leave per year. For employees not eligible for paid leave, the Act provides for up to 40 hours of unpaid sick leave per year. Although Mayor Bloomberg has promised to veto the Act, which was passed on May 8, 2013, the Act has enough Council support to override any veto.1