Westchester County, N.Y. has recently enacted two new laws which apply to employers with employees working in the county: an earned sick leave law and a wage history anti-discrimination law. The details of these laws and their impact on Westchester County employers is described below.

The Earned Sick Leave Law

This newly adopted law will be effective on March 30, 2019. It requires employers to provide sick leave to their full-time and part-time employees who work more than 80 hours per year. The law is quite similar to New York City's sick time law (although, unlike the New York City law, it does not cover time off for "safe leave").

The law requires employers to provide at least 40 hours of sick leave per year to eligible employees. For employers with five or more employees, the earned sick time must be paid at the "rate the employee normally earns during hours worked," while for employers with fewer than five employees, the earned sick time can be unpaid.

Employees accrue one hour of sick time for every 30 hours worked. Earned but unused sick time may be carried over to the following year. The law mandates that an employer provide no more than 40 hours of sick time per year, but does not require that employers pay out earned but unused sick time when the employment terminates.

Employees may use earned sick time for (1) their own mental or physical illness, injury, or health condition, need for medical diagnosis, care, or treatment of such illness, injury, or health condition, or need for preventative medical care; (2) the care of a family member for a mental or physical illness, injury, or health condition, need for medical diagnosis, care, or treatment of such illness, injury, or health condition, or preventative medical care; or (3) when public health authorities have either determined that an employee or family member's presence in the community may jeopardize the health of others or have closed the employer's place of business.

Employers may satisfy the requirements of the law by providing 40 hours of combined sick and personal time. However, the employer must allow the employee to take the time as needed for sick time with no advance notice necessary and without additional restrictions.

Employees alleging violations of this law have two avenues to seek redress: They can file a private lawsuit or assert a claim with the Westchester Department of Weights and Measures – Consumer Protection. The statute of limitations is one year.

Employees may recover the greater of $250 or three times the wages that should have been paid for each uncompensated or undercompensated absence as well as $500 for each improper denial of a request for sick time.

If an employee has suffered job loss, suspension, or other consequences from complaining about a violation of this law, he or she may assert a claim for reinstatement and back pay. Attorneys' fees and costs are recoverable.

The Wage History Anti-Discrimination Law

This law went into effect on effect July 9, 2018, and prohibits employers from asking job applicants questions about their salary history or relying on the applicant's salary history in determining the salary to offer the applicant. The employer can consider the prior salary only if a prospective employee volunteers the information when seeking a higher wage than that offered by the employer.

Notably, employers are barred from seeking to verify the salary history with the applicant's current or former employer unless an employer is confirming information voluntarily disclosed by the applicant about his or her salary in order to obtain a higher wage than the employer offered, and the applicant provided written authorization for the disclosure.

Employers must remove any salary history questions from job applications. All persons involved in interviewing and hiring must be trained to refrain from making inquiries into salary history.

Applicants who claim violations may assert claims before the Westchester County Human Rights Commission. An example of such a claim would be an employer's refusal to hire an applicant who refuses to furnish salary history in response to a prohibited inquiry.

We recommend that all employers operating in Westchester County immediately review their policies and make any necessary changes to ensure they comply with these laws, which includes providing employees with written guidance about what the laws entail via handbooks and/or their own alerts.

The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.