A new law was passed in New York City that requires paid sick leave for certain workers.  Does it apply to nannies?

Sick Leave for Nanny

Under the law, employers with 20 or more workers must provide up to 5 paid sick days per year beginning in April 2014.  Employers with 15-19 workers must provide 5 paid sick days per year beginning in October 2015. And all other employers must provide five unpaid sick leave days per year.

Most parents only employ one worker — their nanny.  Most parents will therefore need to provide 5 unpaid sick leave days per year, once the law takes effect.

As we’ve noted, every nanny contract should address sick days. You can provide all sick days at once or allow the nanny to earn them on a rolling basis.  Our contract provides all sicks days at once, as that requires less record keeping and doesn’t require a nanny to “borrow” from future days, if he or she is ill at the start of a year.