In yesterday’s State of the State, Governor Andrew Cuomo proposed legislation that would require private employers to provide sick leave to their workers. Under his proposal, employers with five to 99 employees would be required to provide at least five days of job-protected paid sick leave per year and employers with 100 or more employees would be required to provide at least 7 days of paid sick leave per year. Small businesses with 4 or fewer employees would be required to provide 5 days of unpaid sick leave.

A similar sick leave law has been in effect for New York City employers since 2014 and for Westchester County employers since April 2019. While we must wait to review the actual text of the legislation, the Governor’s comments suggest that the State law will be more expansive than the New York City and Westchester County laws by requiring employers with 100 or more employees to provide at least 7 paid sick days. In New York City and Westchester County there is no distinction for large employers and all employers may limit employees to using 40 hours in a calendar year.