[HISTORY: Adopted by the City Council of the City of East
Orange as indicated in article histories. Amendments noted where applicable.]
[Adopted 9-8-2014 by Ord. No. 21-2014]
A.
To ensure that all workers in the City of East Orange can address
their own health needs and the health needs of their family members
by requiring employers to provide a minimum level of paid sick time,
including time for care for family members;
B.
To diminish public and private health care costs and promote preventative
health services in the City of East Orange by enabling workers to
seek early and routine medical care for themselves and their family
members;
C.
To protect the public's health in East Orange by reducing the
risk of and spread of contagion;
D.
To promote the economic security and stability of workers and their
families, as well as businesses serving the City of East Orange and
its residents;
E.
To protect residents and all workers in the City of East Orange from
losing their jobs or facing workplace discipline as a result of illness
and the use of sick time to care for themselves or their family members;
F.
To safeguard the public welfare, health, safety and prosperity of
the people of the City of East Orange; and
G.
To accomplish the purposes described in Subsections A through F in a manner that is fair and reasonable to both employees and employers and rationally related to the objective sought, which is to promote the overall health and safety of the residents and workers in the City of East Orange by reducing the risk of and spread of communicable disease and contagion.
As used in this article, the following terms shall have the
meanings indicated:
The Department of Health and Human Services.
A regular and consecutive twelve-month period, as determined
by an employer.
A labor organization that represents, for purposes of collective
bargaining, employees involved in the performance of construction,
reconstruction, demolition, alteration, custom fabrication or repair
work and who are enrolled or have graduated from a "registered apprenticeship
program."
As defined in N.J.S.A. 34:11-56a1(h), who works in the City
of East Orange for at least 80 hours in a year, except that "employee"
for purposes of this article does not include:
As defined in N.J.S.A. 34:11-56a1(g), except that "employer"
does not include:
A biological, adopted or foster child, stepchild or legal ward,
a child of a domestic partner, or a child of a civil union partner;
A biological, foster, stepparent or adoptive parent or legal
guardian of an employee or of an employee's spouse, domestic
partner or civil union partner;
A person to whom the employee is legally married under the laws
of New Jersey or any other state or with whom the employee has entered
into a civil union under N.J.S.A. Title 37;
A grandparent or spouse, civil union partner or domestic partner
of a grandparent;
A grandchild;
A domestic partner of an employee as defined in N.J.S.A. 26:8A-3
et seq.; or
A sibling.
Any person licensed under federal or New Jersey law to provide
medical or emergency services, including but not limited to doctors,
nurses and emergency room personnel.
Time that is compensated at the same hourly rate and with the same benefits, including health care benefits, as the employee normally earns during hours worked and is provided by an employer to an employee for the purposes described in § 140-5 of this article, but in no case shall the hourly wage be less than that provided under N.J.S.A. 34:11-56a.
An apprenticeship program that is registered with and approved
by the United States Department of Labor and which meets not less
than two of the following requirements:
Has active, employed, registered apprentices;
Has graduated apprentices to journey worker status during a
majority of the years that the program has been in operation; or
Has graduated apprentices to journey worker status during three
of the immediately preceding five years, provides each trainee with
combined classroom and on-the-job training under the direct and close
supervision of a highly skilled worker in an occupation recognized
as an apprenticeable trade and meets the program performance standards
of enrollment and graduation under 29 CFR Part 29, Section 29.63.1.
The denial of any right guaranteed under this article and
any threat, discipline, discharge, suspension, demotion, reduction
of hours, or any other adverse action against an employee for the
exercise of any right guaranteed herein, including for filing a complaint
or informing any person about any employer's alleged violation
of this Act; cooperating with the agency in its investigations of
alleged violations of this Act; participating in any administrative
or judicial action regarding an alleged violation of this Act; and
informing any person of his or her potential rights under this Act.
A.
All or any portion of the applicable requirements of this article
shall not apply to employees covered by a collective bargaining agreement,
to the extent that such requirements are expressly waived in the collective
bargaining agreement in clear and unambiguous terms.
B.
With respect to employees covered by a collective bargaining agreement
in effect at the time of the effective date of this article, no provision
of this article shall apply until the expiration of the collective
bargaining agreement; however, if the terms of an expired collective
bargaining agreement provide paid sick leave that is more generous
than provided by this article, those terms of the expired collective
bargaining agreement apply to the extent required by law.
B.
Employers who employ 10 or more employees for compensation are not
required to provide more than 40 hours of paid sick time in a calendar
year.
C.
Employers who employ fewer than 10 employees for compensation are not required to provide more than 24 hours of paid sick time in a calendar year, except for employees who are child-care workers, home health care workers and food service workers. For child-care workers, home health care workers and food service workers, employers are required to provide up to 40 hours of paid sick time, so long as the hours are accrued in a calendar year as set forth in Subsection A above.
D.
In determining the number of employees performing work for an employer,
all employees performing work for compensation on a full-time, part-time
or temporary basis shall be counted, provided that where the number
of employees who work for an employer for compensation fluctuates,
business size may be determined for the current calendar year based
upon the average number of employees who worked for compensation during
the preceding calendar year.
E.
Employees who are exempt from overtime requirements under 29 U.S.C.
§ 213(a)(1) of the Federal Fair Labor Standards Act are
assumed to work 40 hours in each workweek for purposes of paid sick
time accrual unless their normal workweek is less than 40 hours, in
which case paid sick time accrues based upon that normal workweek.
F.
Employees begin to accrue paid sick time on the first day of employment.
Employees are entitled to use accrued paid sick time beginning on
the 90th calendar day of their employment and thereafter employees
are entitled to use paid sick time as it is accrued.
G.
Accrued but unused paid sick time shall be carried over to the following
calendar year, provided that no employer shall be required to carry
over more than 40 hours of unused paid sick time from one calendar
year to the next or allow the use of more than 40 hours of paid sick
time in a calendar year. An employer shall not be required to carry
over unused paid sick time if the employee is paid for any unused
paid sick time at the end of the calendar year in which such time
is accrued.
H.
Any employer with a paid leave policy, such as a paid time off policy,
that provides an amount of paid leave sufficient to meet the total
annual accrual requirements of this section that may be used for the
same purposes and under the same conditions as paid sick time under
this article is not required to provide additional paid sick time.
I.
Nothing in this section shall be construed as requiring financial
or other reimbursement to an employee from an employer upon the employee's
termination, resignation, retirement or other separation from employment
for accrued paid sick time that has not been used.
J.
If an employee is transferred to a separate division, entity or location,
but remains employed by the same employer in the City of East Orange,
the employee is entitled to all paid sick time accrued at the prior
division, entity or location and is entitled to use all paid sick
time as provided in this section. If there is a separation from employment
and the employee is rehired within six months of separation, previously
accrued unpaid sick time that had not been used shall be reinstated.
Further, the employee is entitled to use accrued unpaid sick time
and accrue additional unpaid sick time at the recommencement of employment.
K.
When a different employer succeeds or takes the place of an existing
employer, all employees of the original employer who remain employed
by the successor employer are entitled to all paid sick time accrued
when employed by the original employer and are entitled to use all
paid sick leave previously accrued.
L.
At its sole discretion, an employer may loan paid sick time to an
employee in advance of accrual by such employee. A decision by an
employer to deny a loan request by an employee shall not subject the
employer to any liability under this article.
A.
Paid sick time shall be provided to an employee by an employer for:
(1)
An employee's mental or physical illness, injury or health condition;
an employee's need for medical diagnosis, care or treatment of
a mental or physical illness, injury or health condition; an employee's
need for preventive medical care;
(2)
Care of a family member with a mental or physical illness, injury
or health condition; care of a family member who needs medical diagnosis,
care or treatment of a mental or physical illness, injury or health
condition; care of a family member who needs preventive medical care;
(3)
Closure of the employee's place of business by order of a public
official due to a public health emergency, or an employee's need
to care for a child whose school or place of care has been closed
by order of a public official due to a public health emergency, or
care for family member when it has been determined by the health authorities
having jurisdiction or by a health care provider that the family member's
presence in the community would jeopardize the health of others because
of the family member's exposure to a communicable disease, whether
or not the family member has actually contracted the communicable
disease.
B.
Nothing in this Act prohibits an employer from requesting that an
employee confirm in writing following use of paid sick time that the
paid sick time was used for an authorized purpose under this Act.
C.
Where the need to use paid sick time is foreseeable, an employer
may require reasonable advance notice of the intention to use paid
sick time. In no event shall an employee be required to give notice
more than seven days prior to the date such sick time is to begin.
Where such need is not foreseeable, an employer may require an employee
to provide notice of the need for the use of sick time before the
beginning of the employee's work shift or workday or, in cases
such as emergencies where advance notice is not possible, notice shall
be provided by the employee as soon as practicable.
D.
An employer may not require, as a condition of an employee's
taking paid sick time, that the employee search for or find a replacement
worker to cover the hours during which the employee is absent.
E.
Accrued sick time may be used in the smaller of hourly increments
or the smallest increment that the employer's payroll system uses
to account for absences or use of other time.
F.
After an employee has used paid sick time for three consecutive days or three consecutive instances, an employer may require an employee to provide reasonable documentation that the time has been used for a purpose covered by Subsection A. In this instance, the employer may require documentation signed by a health care professional indicating that the paid sick time was necessary; however, an employer may not require that the documentation explain the nature of the illness.
A.
All employers shall give written notice to each employee at the commencement
of the employee's employment (or as soon as practicable if the
employee is already employed on the effective date of this article)
regarding employee's rights under this article. Such notice shall
describe the right to paid sick time, the accrual rate and the amount
of paid sick time, and the terms of its use under this article; the
right to be free from retaliation for properly requesting use of paid
sick time; and the right to file a complaint or bring an action in Municipal
Court if paid sick time is denied by the employer or the employee
is retaliated against for requesting or taking paid sick time. Such
notice shall be in English and the primary language spoken by that
employee, so long as the primary language of that employee is also
the primary language of at least 10% of the employer's work force.
B.
Employers shall also display a poster in a conspicuous and accessible place in each business establishment where employees are employed containing the information required in Subsection A. The poster shall be in English and in any language that is the first language of at least 10% of the employer's work force.
Any employer who violates the provisions of this article is
subject to a fine of up to $500 for each day on which a violation
occurs or continues. In addition to the fines set forth above, any
employer who violates this article is subject to payment of restitution
in the amount of any paid sick time unlawfully withheld.
Employers shall allow the agency reasonable access to records
and to monitor compliance with the requirements of this Act. An employer's
failure to maintain or retain adequate records documenting hours worked
by an employee and paid sick time taken by an employee creates a rebuttable
presumption that the employer has violated this article, absent clear
and convincing evidence otherwise.
A.
The agency shall coordinate implementation and enforcement of this
article and promulgate appropriate guidelines or regulations for such
purposes.
B.
The agency shall have broad powers to ensure compliance with this
article.
C.
In the event an allegation of noncompliance cannot be resolved by
the agency with the employer, a complaint may be filed, by the agency
and/or the employee as the complainant, in the East Orange Municipal
Court for any alleged violation of this article.
D.
The Municipal Court shall have the power to adjudicate all allegations
of violations of this article and impose fines or penalties provided
for in this article or any further relief deemed appropriate by the
Court, including but not limited to restitution, reinstatement, injunctive
or declaratory relief.
E.
Submitting a complaint to the agency is neither a prerequisite nor
a bar to bringing a private action.
F.
The agency shall have the power to do outreach to inform the residents
of the City of their rights under this Act and to publicize online
and in other media the names of employers who violate this Act.
A.
An employer may not require disclosure of the specific details relating
to an employee's or an employee's family member's medical
condition as a condition of providing paid sick time under this article.
If an employer possesses health information about an employee or employee's
family member, such information shall be treated as confidential and
shall not be disclosed by the employer except to the affected employee
or with the permission of the affected employee.
B.
The agency shall maintain confidential the identity of any complaining
person unless disclosure of the identity is necessary for resolution
of the investigation. The agency shall, to the extent practicable,
notify a complaining person that the agency will be disclosing his
or her identify prior to such disclosure.
A.
Nothing in this article shall be construed to discourage or prohibit
an employer from the adoption or retention of a paid sick time policy
more generous than the one required herein.
B.
Nothing in this article shall be construed as diminishing the obligation
of an employer to comply with any contract, collective bargaining
agreement, employment benefit plan, or other agreement providing more
generous paid sick time to an employee than required herein.
C.
Nothing in this article shall be construed as diminishing the rights
of public employees regarding paid sick time or use of paid sick time
as provided in the laws of the State of New Jersey pertaining to public
employees.
D.
Nothing in this article shall be construed as diminishing the rights
secured by S2177, the "New Jersey Security and Financial Empowerment
Act," for domestic violence victims in the City of East Orange.
E.
Nothing in this article shall be construed or interpreted in a way
that would conflict with any state or federal law pertaining to paid
sick time or employee benefits.
This article provides minimum requirements pertaining to paid
sick time and shall not be construed to preempt, limit or otherwise
affect the applicability of any other law, regulation, requirement,
policy or standard that provides for greater accrual or use by employees
of sick time, whether paid or unpaid, or that extends other protections
to employees.
This article will take effect 120 days following enactment except
that, in the case of employees covered by a collective bargaining
agreement in effect on the effective date prescribed herein, this
article shall apply on the date of the termination of such agreement
unless the collective bargaining agreement expressly waives the protections
set forth in this article.
This article will require employers in the City of East Orange
to provide a minimum number of days of paid sick leave.
