The New Jersey Time to Care Coalition issued a statement today marking the first day that New Jersey’s Earned Sick Leave law requires employers to permit their workers to take their earned sick time. The law went into effect on October 29, 2018, allowing workers to accrue 1 hour of paid sick time for every 30 hours worked and to take paid time off for at least 5 earned sick days per year. Nearly all workers, including part-time workers, can use their time to tend to their own illness, care for a broad range of family members or those like family, seek preventative medical care, address issues related to domestic violence or sexual assault, and attend children’s school meetings. The law greatly benefits many workers and working families who will no longer have to choose between losing a day’s pay and their or their family’s health. 

“The over 1 million workers who previously lacked any earned sick days — and even more who were unable to use sick time to care for family members — no longer have to worry about their day’s pay if they or their family gets sick, “ said Dena Mottola Jaborska, Associate Director of New Jersey Citizen Action and co-covener of the TTC Coalition. “Now, workers are entitled to take up to 5 earned sick days that they may earn in a year and their employer cannot punish them for requesting or using this time. We are glad to see that Governor Murphy and the Department of Labor are working hard to ensure that more workers are aware of their rights under this law.”

For more information,  visit www.njtimetocare.org/ESL and the DOLWD site, http://mysickdays.nj.gov