New York Senate Bill S03354

New York 2025-2026 Regular Session

• Introduced: 1/27/25
• Refer: 1/27/25
• Report Pass: 4/8/25
• Refer: 1/7/26
• Report Pass: 1/28/26

Caption

Allows certain employees to transfer or receive sick time from a fellow employee.

Summary

S03354 would add a new section to the Civil Service Law creating a statewide framework for the transfer of sick time between certain public employees. The bill allows an employee to donate unused sick leave to a fellow employee and allows a recipient to use that donated leave after exhausting their own personal sick time. It defines key terms such as donor, recipient, and fellow employee, and applies to a broad range of public-sector workers, including state and local employees, school district employees, BOCES employees, public authority employees, and certain employees of participating employers in the state retirement systems. The bill also places limits on who may exchange sick time. Donated leave generally must stay within the same jurisdictional group, such as state commission employees, municipal commission employees, or school district employees. A recipient must first deplete personal sick time before using donated time, and employers may require medical documentation or proof of a familial emergency to approve the leave. The measure expressly preserves any stronger rights or benefits already provided under collective bargaining agreements or employment contracts, and it would take effect immediately if enacted.

Impact

This bill would amend the Civil Service Law by establishing an express statutory right for eligible public employees to transfer and receive sick time, creating a new leave-sharing mechanism across many state and local public employers. It would affect public officers and employees of the state, counties, municipalities, school districts, community colleges, public authorities, public benefit corporations, BOCES, vocational education boards, and certain participating employers in the state and teachers' retirement systems. The bill would not override existing labor agreements or employment contracts, so negotiated leave-sharing or more generous sick-leave provisions could continue to apply.

Sentiment

The available voting history suggests strong committee support, with unanimous 7-0 votes recorded in the Senate Civil Service and Pensions Committee. No committee transcript is available, but the bill’s structure indicates a generally favorable policy approach toward helping employees facing serious illness or family emergencies by allowing coworkers to donate unused leave. The absence of recorded opposition in the provided materials suggests the measure was viewed positively at the committee stage.

Contention

The main policy questions raised by the bill are likely to concern administrative control and eligibility limits rather than the basic concept of leave donation. The bill allows employers to require physician documentation or proof of a familial emergency, which could be a point of concern for employees seeking flexible access to donated leave. Another potential issue is the bill’s restriction that donated sick time generally stay within the same commission, school district, or similar employment jurisdiction, which may limit the pool of available leave for some workers. Labor organizations or employees with existing collective bargaining rights may also be attentive to the bill’s savings clause, though it expressly preserves those agreements rather than displacing them.