COVID-19 Employer Playbook

New York State Benefits

Overview New York State provides job protection and financial compensation to workers in the event they, or their minor dependent child(ren), are subject to a mandatory or precautionary order of quarantine or isolation. Most employees will receive financial compensation for a COVID- 19 related need by using a combination of benefits, which includes new employer-provided paid sick leave (depending on the size of the employer), NY Paid Family Leave, and disability benefits. These benefits are not available to employees who are able to work through remote access or other means. NY Paid Family Leave can also be used to care for a family member who has contracted COVID-19, which qualifies as a serious health condition. Enhanced Disability and Leave Laws New York has had both statutory disability and paid family leave laws in place for some time. Those existing laws were quickly amended to reflect expanded coverage for mandatory or precautionary COVID-19 quarantines as ordered by the state or any local health authority. All employers must provide job-protected, unpaid leave until the end of any mandatory quarantine order. In addition, employers must provide a specified number of paid sick days, depending on their size. Employees who are quarantined but can work from home do not qualify for sick leave benefits.

Employer Size

Number of Sick Days

<11 employees (<$1m in net income) <11 employees ($1m+ in net income)

0 days 5 days 5 days 14 days 14 days

11-99 employees 100+ employees All public employers

Enhanced Benefits for Small Employers There are special provisions to provide further protections for employees of private employers with fewer than 100 employees. For qualified employers, after the COVID-19 sick leave, employees may file for both NY state disability and NY paid family leave benefits at the same time. This combination expands employee protections through a quarantine period. Definitional Changes The law changes the definition of disability to include the inability to work during a quarantine order and when the employee has exhausted all paid sick leave (outlined above). This eliminates the waiting period for employees of employers with 10 or fewer employees and less than $1m in net income. The law also changes the application of family leave to mean any leave taken by an employee when subject to a quarantine order or to care for a minor dependent child of an employee who is subject to a quarantine order. Enhanced Benefit Amounts New York also significantly increased the disability benefit maximums for COVID-19 claims.

Type of Benefit

Current Max

COVID-19 Max

Disability Paid Leave

$170 per week $841 per week

$2,043 per week $ 841 per week $2,884 per week

May not receive both

Total

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