STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — This year, New York became the first state in the nation to enact paid time off for prenatal and pregnancy-related medical care. The policy, titled the Paid Prenatal Leave Law, took effect Jan. 1, 2025.
According to the state’s Department of Labor, with this law, privately employed pregnant New Yorkers became eligible for an additional 20 hours of paid leave for pregnancy-related medical appointments, on top of their existing sick leave benefits.
Governor Kathy Hochul proposed the policy in her 2024 State of the State address and signed it into law in April 2024.
“No pregnant woman in New York should be forced to choose between a paycheck and a check-up — and that’s why I pushed to create the nation’s first paid prenatal leave policy,” Hochul said at the announcement. “From raising the minimum wage to investing in affordable child care, we’re making New York the best and most affordable place to raise a family.”
This change comes at a difficult time for mothers. In years prior to this law, CDC data showed prenatal care starting in the first trimester declined two years in a row, dropping by 1% in 2023 to 76.1% from 77% in 2022. This followed a 2-percentage-point decrease from 2021, when the rate was 78.3%. The percentage of mothers who received no prenatal care increased by about 4.5%, according to the CDC’s analysis of birth certificates.
According to previous reporting from the Staten Island Advance/SILive.com, all employees eligible automatically receive 20 hours of paid prenatal leave per year and must use the benefit in hourly increments. The leave doesn’t accrue, and the 52-week clock starts when an employee first uses it.
The law covers end-of-pregnancy care appointments but does not apply to postnatal or postpartum appointments. Employees with multiple pregnancies within the same 52-week period can use the leave for each pregnancy, but only 20 hours are available in total.
Employees are paid at their regular rate or the minimum wage, whichever is higher.