34:11D-8 Provisions preemptive; construction of act.

8. a. The governing body of a county or municipality shall not, after the effective date of this act, adopt any ordinance, resolution, law, rule, or regulation regarding earned sick leave. The provisions of this act shall preempt any ordinance, resolution, law, rule, or regulation regarding earned sick leave adopted by the governing body of a county or municipality.

b. No provision of this act, or any regulations promulgated to implement or enforce this act, shall be construed as:

(1) requiring an employer to reduce, or justifying an employer in reducing, rights or benefits provided by the employer pursuant to an employer policy or collective bargaining agreement which are more favorable to employees than those required by this act or which provide rights or benefits to employees not covered by this act;

(2) preventing or prohibiting the employer from agreeing, through a collective bargaining agreement or employer policy, to provide rights or benefits which are more favorable to employees than those required by this act or to provide rights or benefits to employees not covered by this act;

(3) prohibiting an employer from establishing a policy whereby an employee may donate unused accrued earned sick leave to another employee or other employees; or

(4) superseding any law providing collective bargaining rights for employees, or in any way reducing, diminishing, or adversely affecting those collective bargaining rights, or in any way reducing, diminishing, or affecting the obligations of employers under those laws.

Employees or employee representatives may waive the rights or benefits provided under this act during the negotiation of a collective bargaining agreement.

c. With respect to employees covered by a collective bargaining agreement in effect at the time of the effective date of this act, no provision of this act shall apply until the stated expiration of the collective bargaining agreement.

L.2018, c.10, s.8.