Assembly Passes Legislation Providing Sick Leave for All New Yorkers During the Coronavirus Outbreak
Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie today announced that the Assembly has passed legislation that will immediately provide all New Yorkers with sick leave during the coronavirus pandemic (A.10153, Nolan).
"No one should have to worry about losing their job should they come down with or are quarantined because of the coronavirus," Speaker Heastie said. "The legislation we passed will help save lives by ensuring people that are sick stay home, and it will allow people to recover without having to worry about losing their livelihood. The Assembly Majority will continue working, both safely and relentlessly, to put New York families first during this health emergency and beyond."
"In a time of a global pandemic and social distancing, New Yorkers need to be able to count on the fact that if they get sick or quarantined, they will have a job to come back to," Assembly Labor Committee Chair Marcos A. Crespo said. "This bill will give them that peace of mind. We will continue fighting for workers across the state and ensure that they have the resources to come through this crisis."
"This bill is critical to the lives and livelihoods of New Yorkers as we navigate our way through the coronavirus health emergency," Assemblymember Catherine Nolan said. "In these uncertain times, we are giving families the assurance that quarantine or illness will not mean the loss of their job or their paycheck."
In order to help protect New York's workers and to curb the spread of COVID-19, this legislation will make all private and public sector employees eligible for sick leave and wage replacement during a mandatory or precautionary order of quarantine or isolation due to COVID-19. Employees that work for small sized employers, which includes employers with 10 or fewer employees and that have a net income of less than $1 million, would receive unpaid sick leave and immediately become eligible for Paid Family Leave and Temporary Disability Insurance (TDI) benefits. Those working for medium sized employers, which includes employers with 10 or fewer employees that have a net income of greater than $1 million and employers with between 11 and 99 employees, would receive at least five days of paid sick leave, followed by eligibility for Paid Family Leave and TDI benefits. Those working for employers with 100 or more employees, as well as all public employees, would receive a minimum of 14 days of paid sick leave.
The bill will allow these employees to collect Paid Family Leave benefits, supplemented by increased TDI benefits to make their weekly wages whole, for those who earn up to a maximum of $150,000 annually. Additionally, it eliminates the waiting period for these benefits, as well as for unemployment insurance for claims related to the coronavirus. It also expands Paid Family Leave benefits to cover an employee or their dependent child if they are under a mandatory or precautionary order of quarantine or isolation due to coronavirus.