Jersey City Paid Sick Time Ordinance Poster/Notification Issued

We want to follow up on our earlier Management Alert regarding Jersey City’s Paid Sick Time Ordinance, to remind our clients that the Ordinance becomes effective on January 24, 2014.¹  As a quick reminder, the Ordinance requires all private sector employers with 10 or more employees working in Jersey City to provide up to five days of paid sick leave per year. (For more information regarding Jersey City’s Paid Sick Time Ordinance, including how much sick leave employers must provide, how employees can use the sick time, and penalties imposed on employers for violating the Ordinance, please see our previous Management Alert available here).

By January 24, 2014, employers must notify employees of their rights and obligations under the Ordinance in two ways: (1) by providing individual written notice to each employee and (2) posting notice of such rights in a conspicuous location around the workplace. With respect to the posting requirement, the Jersey City Department of Health and Human Services (“the Department”) recently prepared and made available two model posters, one for employers and the other for employees, discussing “Frequently Asked Questions” about the Ordinance. These posters are available here and here. Employers should post the notice for employees by January 24, 2014. The Department has also made both posters available in English and five additional languages, including Spanish, Chinese, and Arabic, on its website here. 

In terms of the written notice requirement, the Department has not issued a model notice, so we recommend preparing a written notice that incorporates the key terms of the Ordinance.  Employers should also adopt the key provisions of the ordinance into their employee handbooks.

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¹ When dealing with employees covered by a collective bargaining agreement, the Ordinance becomes effective when the agreement terminates.