New York Governor Kathy Hochul has signed into law a bill extending the State’s COVID vaccine paid leave law for an additional year, to December 31, 2023.
As we previously reported, the law requires New York employers to provide employees with “a sufficient period of time, not to exceed four hours” of paid leave per dose (including boosters) to be vaccinated for COVID-19. Leave must be paid at the employee’s regular rate of pay and cannot be charged against leave accruals otherwise already available to the employee.
In its initial version, the law had an automatic sunset date of December 31, 2022. However, the recently signed bill extends this sunset date to December 31, 2023.
In addition to the state law requirement, New York City employers are reminded that employees who are the parents of a child under the age of 18 (or an older child incapable of self-care because of disability) are entitled to up to four hours of paid COVID-19 vaccination time per vaccine injection for each such child, or for an absence from work for accompanying such child to receive a COVID-19 vaccine or caring for such child who cannot attend school or childcare due to temporary side effects from a COVID-19 injection. The NYC child vaccine leave law is in effect until the end of this year on December 31, 2022.