A new law passed grants New York employees paid time off to get vaccinated.
On March 12, 2021, Governor Andrew Cuomo announced a new law effective immediately that provides private and public employees the opportunity to get paid leave in order to receive a COVID-19 vaccine.
Employees are given up to 8 hours of paid time for a vaccination (4 hours per injection, thus employees are guaranteed two 4-hour periods of paid leave for two doses).
I signed legislation granting public & private employees leave to get the COVID vaccine. This law grants up to 4 hours of leave per shot & goes into effect immediately
This puts us one step closer to vaccinating every single New Yorker & beating COVID for good #VaccinateNY
— Archive: Governor Andrew Cuomo (@NYGovCuomo) March 12, 2021
As reported by JD Surpa, employers cannot discriminate against employees who ask for this paid time off to get a vaccine. The law further states that the vaccination leave must be paid at the employee’s regular rate pay.
Furthermore, the paid leave of absence for a COVID-19 vaccine must be granted in addition to other paid leaves that the employer already provides. For example, an employee’s paid leave for a vaccination cannot be charged as their sick paid leave.
A collective bargaining agreement (CBA) may waive the requirements if the new law is referenced by the CBA.
Employers in the hospitality industry that take a tip credit must also pay their tipped employees at the full minimum wage during the time they take to get their vaccine.
The law is set to expire by December 31, 2022. Employees and employers alike can expect the New York Department of Labor to give further clarification on the new law in the upcoming days.
It is unclear whether the new law will apply for those who had already taken time off to get vaccinated before the law was passed.
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