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Mandatory Sick Leave Law Takes Effect Today

(l to r) Carlo Scissura, president of Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce and Consumer Affairs Commissioner Julie Menin campaign outside the subway station at Barclays Center to inform residents about the Paid Sick Leave Law New York City's mandatory sick-l
(l to r) Carlo Scissura, president of Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce and Consumer Affairs Commissioner Julie Menin campaign outside the subway station at Barclays Center to inform residents about the Paid Sick Leave Law
(l to r) Carlo Scissura, president of Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce and Consumer Affairs Commissioner Julie Menin campaign outside the subway station at Barclays Center to inform residents about the Paid Sick Leave Law

New York City's mandatory sick-leave law takes effect today.

Under the law, companies with at least five employees are required to provide each worker with up to five days of paid sick leave each year. Workers started to accrue sick time in April. They can begin using their days Wednesday.

Similar laws have gone into effect in other U.S. cities, but Consumer Affairs Commissioner Julie Menin said that New York's law is on a completely different scale' than other cities with similar laws.

Campaigners outside the subway station at Barclays Center, putting up posters to inform residents about the Paid Sick Leave Law
Campaigners outside the subway station at Barclays Center, putting up posters to inform residents about the Paid Sick Leave Law

In a city as big as New York, the Commission is worried that several thousand business owners are still unaware of the requirements or when the law takes effect, so it has embarked upon a major outreach campaign.

Representatives from the Bed-Stuy Gateway BID campaign outside the subway station at Barclays Center to inform residents about the Paid Sick Leave Law
(l to r) Joyce Turner, chair of the board of directors of the Bed-Stuy Gateway BID and Michael Lambert, executive director of the Bed-Stuy Gateway BID campaign outside the subway station at Barclays Center to inform residents about the Paid Sick Leave Law

Mayor Bill de Blasio's office has sent out 400,000 letters to employers, taken out radio and TV ads and distributed leaflets in 25 languages, including Spanish, Russian and Yiddish, all explaining employees' rights."This finally gives people the rights that so many others have enjoyed," said de Blasio,"which is to take that time to get well and not lose pay in the process— a little more economic security when so many New Yorkers are troubled."

Employers and employees can visit nyc.gov/PaidSickLeave or call 311 (212-NEW-YORK outside NYC) for more information, including the required Notice of Employee Rights, one-page overviews for employers and employeesFAQs, and events.




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