Notice of Employee Rights<\/a>. The Notice is available in multiple languages.<\/p>\nFAQs<\/p>\n
Key takeaways from the updated FAQs include:<\/p>\n
1.\u00a0 Prenatal leave:\u00a0Consistent with state law, employees can use paid prenatal leave to receive healthcare during their pregnancy or related to their pregnancy. Employees may only use paid prenatal leave for medical care they themselves are receiving.<\/p>\n
2.\u00a0 General terminology:\u00a0The DCWP refers to the ESSTA as the \u201cProtected Time Off Law\u201d and generally uses the term \u201cprotected time off\u201d (instead of \u201csafe and sick leave\/time,\u201d although the statute still uses \u201csafe and sick time\u201d).<\/p>\n
3.\u00a0 Unpaid protected time off:\u00a0An additional 32 hours of unpaid protected time off must be provided on Feb. 22, 2026, for current employees and at the time of hire for those hired thereafter, irrespective of start date. Unused, unpaid protected time off need not be carried over from year to year, but employees must be provided an additional 32 hours of unpaid protected time off at the start of each year. Employers that provide at least 32 hours more than the required 40 hours or 56 hours of paid protected time off need not provide the additional 32 hours of unpaid protected time off, so long as they frontload 32 paid hours at hire and at the start of each calendar year (separate from standard ESSTA paid time off accruals).\u00a0<\/p>\n
4.\u00a0 Expanded list of permitted reasons for use:\u00a0Covered employees may use protected time off for:<\/p>\n
Health needs \u2013 Applies to an employee\u2019s or a family member\u2019s health needs (including illness, injury, diagnosis, treatment, preventive care). \u201cFamily member\u201d broadly includes individuals related by blood or individuals \u201cwhose close association with the employee is the equivalent of a family relationship.\u201d Employers may not ask an employee to specify the type of health need.
\u00a0
\nSafety measures \u2013 Uses related to seeking safety from domestic violence (or to help a family member experiencing domestic violence), unwanted sexual contact, stalking, human trafficking, or workplace violence. Protected time off can be used to move homes or shelters, get divorced, enroll a child in school, apply for public benefits, meet an attorney or social worker, and file a police report.\u00a0
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\nChild care or family care \u2013 Care of a child or a family or household member with a disability (including temporary disabilities). This reason includes using time off when a minor child or care recipient needs to be watched during school holidays, daycare closures for any reason, or babysitter cancellations.\u00a0
\u00a0
\nApplying for benefits \u2013 To attend housing or public benefits-related appointments or hearings.
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\nPublic disasters or emergencies \u2013 To stay home when a public disaster or emergency is declared because of severe weather events (such as snowstorms or hurricanes) and public disasters like fires, explosions, or terrorist attacks that cause a state of emergency or a public disaster declared by the U.S. president, New York State governor, or the New York City mayor.\u00a0
\u00a0
\nThe guidance categorizes permitted reasons as \u201chealth\u201d and \u201cother protected\u201d needs, even though the statute still uses \u201csick\u201d and \u201csafe.\u201d<\/p>\n
5.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Policy updates:\u00a0Employers\u00a0must\u00a0modify their current policy to comply with the amendments and distribute the revised policy to all new hires and current employees by\u00a0March 8, 2026.\u00a0If the policy uses terms other than \u201cprotected time off,\u201d \u201csafe\/sick time,\u201d or \u201csafe and sick leave\u201d to describe ESSTA time off (such as \u201cpaid time off\u201d), then a statement that employees may use the leave for protected time off purposes without any conditions prohibited by the ESSTA must be included.<\/p>\n
6.\u00a0 Notice of rights:\u00a0Employers\u00a0must\u00a0distribute and post the DCWP\u2019s updated notice of rights. They must physically post the notice at the workplace in English and every language spoken by at least five percent of the employees in the workplace and personally distribute notice to new hires and to current employees by\u00a0March 8, 2026.\u00a0Employers must keep records showing when each employee received the notice and proof of receipt. Posting and providing the Notice of Employee Rights as required will not satisfy the written policy requirements discussed above or vice versa.<\/p>\n
7.\u00a0 Usage and balance information:\u00a0Employers must inform employees through their pay statements (pay stubs or other documentation provided to employees each pay period) how much protected time off they have accrued, used, and have available for use immediately and within the calendar year. This applies to paid and unpaid leave. This is slightly different from the information required for paid prenatal leave, which requires employers to detail in pay statements or in separate written documentation for each pay period in which an employee uses prenatal leave (i) the amount of paid prenatal leave used during a pay period and (ii) the total balance of remaining prenatal leave available for use in the 52-week period.<\/p>\n
8.\u00a0 Employees covered by a valid collective bargaining agreement (CBA):\u00a0For CBAs entered into, extended, or renewed after April 1, 2014, the ESSTA applies unless the agreement expressly waives the law\u2019s provisions and provides a \u201ccomparable benefit.\u201d \u201cComparable benefit\u201d must include 40 hours or 56 hours of paid time off depending on employer size, an additional 32 hours of paid or unpaid time off immediately available, 20 hours of paid prenatal leave, protection for the use of time off for all reasons covered under the law (including family care), and protection from discipline for using such leave. However, for employees in the\u00a0construction or grocery industries,\u00a0the law does not apply if the CBA expressly waives its provisions. (All private sector employees in New York State are covered by the state\u2019s Paid Sick Leave Law as of Sept. 30, 2020, and unionized employees should refer to state guidance for how this law interacts with their rights under the CBA and municipal law.)<\/p>\n
Model Forms<\/p>\n
Along with the FAQs and the Notice of Employee Rights, the DCWP has released model forms to help employers comply with the updated recordkeeping requirements. Employers should consult with their counsel before implementing these forms as they may conflict with state law.<\/p>\n
Pending Rulemaking<\/p>\n
The DCWP has published proposed updates to its rules interpreting the law, as amended. The proposed rules,\u00a0inter alia,\u00a0define the term \u201cprotected time off\u201d to have the same meaning as \u201csafe\/sick time,\u201d incorporate the amendments, provide guidance to employers regarding the amendments (including on which bank of protected time off to draw from when employees have time off available for use), and clarify the remedies (including civil penalties and employee relief if an employer is found to have violated the law).<\/p>\n
A public hearing on the proposed rules is scheduled for March 2, 2026, at 11:00 a.m., as part of the notice and comment process. Contingent on the receipt and review of public comments, including any raised at the hearing, the DCWP may further revise the proposed rules. Jackson Lewis attorneys will provide additional guidance once the final rules are published.<\/p>\n
Next Steps<\/p>\n
Compliance with ESSTA is both mandatory and complex. By understanding your obligations, maintaining clear and compliant policies, and fostering a supportive workplace culture, employers can minimize legal risk while supporting employee well being.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Takeaways Amendments to New York City\u2019s Earned Safe and Sick Time Act expanded employee leave rights effective 02.22.26…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":145405,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[9,56,63,65,64],"class_list":{"0":"post-145404","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-york-city","8":"tag-new-york","9":"tag-ny","10":"tag-nyc","11":"tag-nyc-headlines","12":"tag-nyc-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/145404","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=145404"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/145404\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/145405"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=145404"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=145404"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=145404"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}