New York City Compliance Reminder: NYC Paid Sick Leave

Panko Compliance · May 22, 2026

## What it is NYC restaurants are covered by two stacked laws — the NYC Earned Safe and Sick Time Act (ESSTA) and the New York State Paid Sick Leave Law (PSL). Where they overlap, whichever is more generous to the employee controls. Both require employers to provide paid (or, for the smallest businesses, unpaid) leave that employees can use for their own illness, a family member's illness, preventive care, or to recover from domestic violence. ## What compliance looks like 1. Written policy. NYC DCWP audits will ask for it on day one. Must cover accrual, carryover, usage, and notice requirements. 2. Accrual. Employees earn 1 hour for every 30 worked, starting day 1. Or you can front-load the annual amount on January 1. 3. Carryover. Up to 40 hours (or 56 for 100+ employers) of unused leave carry into the next year — UNLESS you front-load, in which case you can require use-it-or-lose-it. 4. Notice. Provide written notice to every employee at hire AND post the official DCWP notice in English plus your workforce's primary language(s). The Notice of Employee Rights template is available at NYC DCWP's site. 5. Records. Keep accrual + usage records for 3 years. Make them available to employees on request. 6. Use. Employees can use leave in as little as 4-hour increments. You cannot require advance notice of more than 7 days for foreseeable absences, or notice 'as soon as practicable' for unforeseeable. ## Penalties for non-compliance Failure to provide written notice: $50 per employee. Failure to provide leave: $500 per instance. Retaliation (firing/disciplining someone who uses leave): $500 per instance + reinstatement + back pay + $1,500 in compensatory damages. DCWP can also assess a $500 fine per recordkeeping violation. Real enforcement note: NYC DCWP runs random audits and follows up on every employee complaint. The most common citation isn't denial of leave — it's failure to post the required notice in the workplace. --- Full guide with sources: https://alerts.getpanko.app/compliance/nyc/paid-sick-leave

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