I work for a large retail organization in New York state. I work in a location with 5-99 employees. Per NYS law, that means employees should receive 40 hours of paid sick leave. There is nothing posted within the location stating any of this, and when asked, my manager said “You earn your time off, we don't provide free sick time”. I am a full time employee, and I'm assuming that what is happening is illegal – but I am looking for guidance. The majority of employees that work there are between 16-25 years of age, and it seems as though they are exploiting the fact that they are young and don't know enough to ask about a policy that was passed into law last year. I don't know where to go from here, and before I blow the whistle I want to make sure that my bases are covered.