paid<\/a> sick leave, employers must provide 32
\nhours of unpaid leave to be used for any
\nqualifying reason under the ESSTA. Leave must be
\nfront-loaded to employees at the start of each
\ncalendar year and provided to new employees immediately upon hire.
\nUnlike paid leave, unpaid leave does not carry over into the
\nfollowing year. Employees can impose a minimum usage increment of
\nup to four hours per day.<\/p>\nImportantly, an employer must provide paid leave before the
\nunpaid leave unless the employee requests otherwise. Pursuant to
\nthe ESSTA’s recordkeeping requirements, employers must
\nseparately track and report balances for both paid leave and unpaid
\nleave.<\/p>\n
Broader Qualifying Reasons for Leave Under
\nESSTA<\/p>\n
The amendments expand the covered reasons for leave under the
\nESSTA. Following its enactment in 2018, the TSCL required employers
\nto provide employees with two temporary schedule changes each year
\nfor “personal events,” defined as care for a child, care
\nfor a “care recipient,” attend a legal proceeding, or any
\nreason that would be a qualifying reason or leave under ESSTA.<\/p>\n
Following its amendment, the ESSTA expands safe
\ntime for the following qualifying reasons, with the new
\nadditions bold and underlined below, and in doing so incorporates
\nqualifying reasons under TSCL:<\/p>\n
\nwhen the employee or employee’s family member has been the
\nvictim of domestic violence pursuant to subpision 34 of section 292
\nof the executive law, a family offense matter, sexual offense,
\nstalking, workplace violence, or human
\ntrafficking:
\n
\n
\nto obtain services from a domestic violence shelter, rape
\ncrisis center, or other shelter or services program for relief from
\na family offense matter, sexual offense, stalking, or human
\ntrafficking;
\n
\nto participate in safety planning, temporarily or permanently
\nrelocate, or take other actions to increase the safety of the
\nemployee or employee’s family members from future family
\noffense matters, sexual offenses, stalking, or human
\ntrafficking;
\n
\nto meet with a legal or social service
\nprovider to obtain information and advice on, and prepare for or
\nparticipate in any criminal or civil proceeding, including but not
\nlimited to, matters related to a family offense matter, sexual
\noffense, stalking, human trafficking, custody, visitation,
\nmatrimonial issues, orders of protection, immigration, housing,
\nor discrimination
\n
\nto file a complaint or domestic incident report with law
\nenforcement;
\n
\nto meet with a district attorney’s office;
\n
\nto enroll children in a new school; or
\n
\nto take other actions necessary to maintain, improve, or
\nrestore the physical, psychological, or economic health or safety
\nof the employee or the employee’s family member or to protect
\nthose who associate or work with the employee.
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
(b) when the employee is
\na caregiver for a minor child or care recipient, to provide care to
\nthe minor child or care recipient; or<\/p>\n
(c) to initiate, attend,
\nor prepare for a legal proceeding or hearing related to subsistence
\nbenefits or housing to which the employee, the employee’s
\nfamily member, or the employee’s care recipient is a party, or
\nto take actions necessary to apply for, maintain, or restore
\nsubsistence benefits or shelter for the employee or their family
\nmember or care recipient.<\/p>\n
The amendments also expand sick time for
\nqualifying reasons, with the additions bold and underlined
\nbelow:<\/p>\n
\nsuch employee’s mental or physical illness, injury, or
\nhealth condition, or need for medical diagnosis, care, or treatment
\nof a mental or physical illness, injury, or health condition, or
\nneed for preventive medical care;
\n
\ncare of a family member who needs medical diagnosis, care, or
\ntreatment of a mental or physical illness, injury, or health
\ncondition, or who needs preventive medical care; or
\n
\nclosure of such employee’s place of business by order of a
\npublic official due to a public health emergency, a
\npublic disaster, or such employee’s need to
\ncare for a child whose school or childcare provider closed
\nor restricted in-person operations by order
\nof public official due to a public health emergency or
\npublic disaster; or
\n
\ndirection by a public official to remain indoors or
\navoid travel during a public disaster which prevents such employee
\nfrom reporting to their work location.
<\/p>\n
NYC’s Temporary Schedule Change Law
\nAmendments<\/p>\n
The amendments also reduce employer obligations under TSCL. Once
\nthis amendment becomes effective on February 22, 2026, employers
\nwill no longer be required to approve requests by employees for
\ntemporary schedule changes. Instead, an employer may accept the
\nrequest, deny the request, or may propose an alternative temporary
\nchange, so long as the employee is not required to accept the
\nemployer-proposed alternative temporary change. Importantly,
\nemployers must respond to TSCL requests as soon as practicable, but
\nnot less than 14 days after a request is made in writing.<\/p>\n
Codifications to Paid Prenatal Leave<\/p>\n
New York City’s amendments also codify New York State’s
\npaid prenatal leave requirements<\/a> into the
\nESSTA. Since January 1, 2025, New York State has required employers
\nto provide 20 hours each year of paid time off from work for doctor
\nappointments, medical procedures, or other types of prenatal care.
\nPrenatal leave is in addition to the 40 or 56 hours of paid safe
\nand sick leave, and, effective February 22, 2026, 32 hours of
\nunpaid safe and sick leave that employees will be entitled to.<\/p>\nFurthermore, employers can set a minimum usage increment of one
\nhour per day for paid prenatal leave. The ESSTA also expressly
\nstates that employers will be subject to penalties for violations,
\nincluding civil penalties and other forms of equitable relief.<\/p>\n
Collective Bargaining Agreements<\/p>\n
The recent amendments provide that the requirements under the
\nESSTA will not apply to employees covered by a collective
\nbargaining agreement so long as the agreement expressly waives the
\nESSTA and provides “superior or comparable benefits” to
\nthe employees such as paid or unpaid time off. However, unpaid time
\noff is not considered a “comparable benefit” for prenatal
\nleave or paid safe and sick time.<\/p>\n
The Bottom Line<\/p>\n
Come February 2026, employers should be aware of the amendments
\nto the ESSTA and TSCL as these expansions will change obligations
\nfor employers. Employers with employees in New York City should
\nrevise their handbook policies to align with these changes and
\nensure human resources and supervisors are up-to-speed on these new
\npolicies and procedures.<\/p>\n
The content of this article is intended to provide a general
\nguide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought
\nabout your specific circumstances.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Ford & Harrison LLP are most popular:
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