New York's Paid Sick Leave Law: State Rules and NYC Rules

New York State and New York City set different documentation rules for sick leave — and they don't match. Here's both, compared directly, plus how a state-licensed provider completes one if you need it.

Does New York have a paid sick leave law?

Outside NYC → State lawInside the 5 boroughs → NYC's ESSTA

Yes. New York State's Paid Sick Leave Law (Labor Law §196-b) sets a documentation rule that applies to every private employer in the state. If you work in the five boroughs, New York City's Earned Safe and Sick Time Act (ESSTA) applies on top of it, with its own, different rule. Government employees (city, state, or federal) are covered by their own rules, not these two laws.

The two laws don't set the same threshold for when your employer can ask you to prove you were out sick. That gap is the reason this page treats them separately, then compares them directly below.

How many days can my employer require documentation for under New York State law?

New York State's rule is straightforward: your employer can't require documentation for a sick-leave absence shorter than three consecutive previously scheduled workdays (12 NYCRR 196-1.3(a)). Once the absence reaches three consecutive workdays, the employer can ask for it.

The state also limits what that documentation can be: an attestation from a licensed provider covering the need for leave, how much, and a return date — or your own written attestation that you're eligible (12 NYCRR 196-1.3(d)).

What does NYC's Earned Safe and Sick Time Act require?

NYC's rule is stricter about when it kicks in. Under ESSTA, your employer can only require documentation for a sick-time absence of more than three consecutive workdays — in practice, starting on the fourth day (RCNY § 7-206(a)). A three-day absence, or anything shorter, is protected under ESSTA; no documentation can be required. Your employer can still ask you to confirm in writing that you used the time for a covered reason.

If your employer does ask for documentation, you get at least seven days after you're back at work to provide it, and it can't be required before you return (RCNY § 7-206(c)).

Is NYC's rule different from the state's?

Yes — by exactly one day. New York State lets an employer ask for documentation starting on day three of an absence. NYC's ESSTA doesn't allow that until day four.

Which threshold applies to you depends on where you work. Outside New York City, the state's three-day rule is the one your employer follows. Inside the five boroughs, ESSTA's four-day rule is the one that governs — New York State's own sick leave law says it does not diminish or override a local sick leave law already in effect in a city of a million or more people (Labor Law §196-b(12)), so NYC's stricter rule stays in force, and a NYC employer has to follow it.

That one day also matters for a specific reason: Certicare's $29 note covers up to three days, which lines up exactly with the state's three-day trigger. Under NYC's rule, your employer can't require documentation for a three-day absence at all — the trigger there doesn't arrive until day four.

If your employer has asked for documentation, under either rule, a state-licensed provider can complete a note for your sick time.

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What counts as valid documentation?

ESSTA is specific about this: your documentation has to come from a licensed clinical social worker, a licensed mental health counselor, or another licensed health care provider, and has to confirm the amount of time you needed (RCNY § 7-206(a)).

Certicare's note is completed and signed by a state-licensed provider — the exact category ESSTA's own rule names.

Licensed clinical social workerLicensed mental health counselorOther licensed health care provider

Who pays if my employer asks for a note?

New York State draws a hard line: your employer can't require you to pay any cost or fee to get the documentation it's asking for (12 NYCRR 196-1.3(b)). The expense isn't supposed to fall on you at all.

NYC works differently. Your employer can let the provider charge you up front, but the employer then has to reimburse that fee to you (RCNY § 7-206(c)). Both rules are employee-favorable, but the mechanics differ: one bars your employer from making you pay, the other pays it back.

Practically: if you're in NYC, your employer asks for documentation, and you pay $29 for a note documenting your sick time, your employer is required to reimburse you for that fee. If the state rule applies to you instead, your employer isn't supposed to pass that cost to you to begin with.

New York State

Employer can't charge you

New York City

Employer reimburses you

Founded by someone who's been there

Rebecca Martel, APRN, FNP-BC, is a family nurse practitioner who has completed hundreds of these forms.

APRN, FNP-BCLicensed in New York StateBoard Certified in Family Health

If your employer asks for documentation

A state-licensed provider reviews your answers online and completes a note for your sick time — usually within about an hour after we have everything needed. A provider may follow up for more detail, or decide a note isn't appropriate; if that happens, you're refunded in full.

Completed and signed by a state-licensed provider

$29 flat — refunded in full if we can't complete your request

Covers up to 3 days

Usually within about an hour after we have everything needed

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HIPAA-compliant

Secure online intake. Your information is reviewed by Certicare and is not shared with your employer without your authorization.