Workers in Westchester County are entitled to one hour of sick leave for every thirty hours worked, or a maximum of forty hours annually, according to the County Board of Legislators. If cracking the worker’s comp code is something you have been putting off, it’s about time you understand what employee insurance policy entails. The new measures under the earned sick leave law require employers with over five employees to provide eligible workers a maximum of 40 hours of paid medical leave every year.
Because of this, you need to ensure you have sufficient resources to meet your employees’ health needs. You also need to understand how the worker’s health and safety law works to ensure you adhere to the set regulations.
Update Your Worker’s Insurance Policy
It might be an added expense, but worker’s comp insurance coverage is essential for any business. It saves you from legal implications when an accident occurs at the workplace and protects workers from potential financial problems due to costly medical bills and loss of income. According to Cerity, no employer should live without this policy.
If you already have an employee insurance compensation policy, consider updating it. That way, you will be able to adjust sick leave and paid time policies to make sure you adhere to the minimum ESLL standards.
Know ESLL Provisions
As of July 9, 2019, or at the start of employment, employers should confirm that eligible employees receive the minimum amount of sick leave under ESLL. All employees, apart from domestic workers, should accumulate at least an hour of sick time for every 30 hours they have worked or up to 40 hours per year. Instead of calculating the accumulated amount of sick time, as an employer, you can choose to offer workers a combined paid medical leave of 40 hours or more and other paid benefits annually.
While it is mandatory for employers to provide paid sick leave to their staff, those with less than five workers should give the same amount of sick time, but without pay.
In most cases, the time set aside for earned sick leave law may overlap with paid time off benefits like the family medical paid leave, New York family paid leave, and other voluntary time-off benefits. With this in mind, you may coordinate with the paid leave benefits. What matters is that you have the right coverage and ensure you are documenting paid time off correctly, so that time covered for earned sick leave.
