{"id":92389,"date":"2026-01-07T15:16:11","date_gmt":"2026-01-07T15:16:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/92389\/"},"modified":"2026-01-07T15:16:11","modified_gmt":"2026-01-07T15:16:11","slug":"important-changes-to-new-york-citys-leave-laws-employee-rights-labour-relations","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/92389\/","title":{"rendered":"Important Changes To New York City’s Leave Laws – Employee Rights\/ Labour Relations"},"content":{"rendered":"

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\n Amendments to New York City’s Earned Safe and Sick Time Act (“ESSTA”) will take effect on February 22, 2026. New York City employers should take note of the important changes and evaluate… \n <\/p>\n


\n United States
\n New York
\n Employment and HR \n <\/p>\n


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Amendments to New York City’s Earned Safe and Sick Time Act
\n(“ESSTA”) will take effect on February 22, 2026. New York
\nCity employers should take note of the important changes and
\nevaluate whether changes to policies and\/or practices are required
\nin order to comply with the new requirements.<\/p>\n

ESSTA<\/p>\n

Under ESSTA, employers must provide full- and part-time
\nemployees working in New York City with time off for certain
\nhealth-related reasons (sick time) and safety-related reasons (safe
\ntime). Employers with 100 or more employees in New York City must
\nprovide up to 56 hours of paid safe and sick leave. Employers with
\nbetween five and 99 employees in New York City must provide up to
\n40 hours of paid safe and sick leave. Employers with four or fewer
\nemployees in New York City must provide up to 40 hours of safe and
\nsick leave, which may be paid or unpaid depending on the net income
\nof the employer. This sick\/safe leave accrues at a rate of one hour
\nfor every 30 hours worked by an employee.<\/p>\n

Amendments to ESSTA<\/p>\n

The notable amendments to ESSTA that take effect on February 22,
\n2026 are as follows:<\/p>\n


\nIn addition to the safe\/sick leave currently available under
\nESSTA, employers must now provide employees with a minimum of 32
\nadditional hours of unpaid safe\/sick leave that is immediately
\navailable for use upon hire or the first of each calendar year.
\nThese additional hours of unpaid safe\/sick leave can only be used
\nif the employee has not yet accrued enough safe\/sick leave, has
\nreached the employer’s annual cap on safe\/sick leave, or has
\nspecifically requested to use this unpaid leave. Employers are not
\nrequired to carry over unused hours to the following year, and they
\nmay set a reasonable daily minimum increment for use of up to four
\nhours.
\n
\nIn addition to the safe\/sick leave currently available under
\nESSTA, employers must provide eligible employees 20 hours of paid
\nprenatal leave in any 52-week period, and employees may use
\nprenatal leave in one-hour increments.
\n
\nSick time coverage now includes circumstances arising from
\npublic disasters\u2014fire, explosion, terrorist attack, severe
\nweather conditions, or other catastrophe that is declared a public
\nemergency or disaster by the US President, New York Governor, or
\nNew York City Mayor.
\n
\nSafe time coverage now includes circumstances where:
\n
\n <\/p>\n


\nAn employee’s family member has been the victim of
\nworkplace violence;
\n
\nAn employee who qualifies as a caregiver is absent to provide
\ncare to a minor child or care recipient; and
\n
\nAn employee initiates, attends, or prepares for a legal
\nproceeding related to subsistence benefits or housing or takes
\nactions necessary to apply for, maintain, or restore such benefits
\nor housing on behalf of themselves, a family member, or a care
\nrecipient. <\/p>\n


\n
\n
\nWith respect to employees covered by collective bargaining
\nagreements, the amendments clarify that ESSTA does not apply to
\nemployees covered by a valid collective bargaining agreement unless
\nthe agreement provides superior or comparable benefits, and unpaid
\ntime off is not “comparable” to paid safe\/sick time or
\npaid prenatal leave.
\n
\nThe amendments also modify New York City’s Temporary
\nSchedule Change Law (“TSCL”), a law enacted in 2018 that
\nallows employees two temporary schedule changes per year for
\ncovered personal events. The amendments to ESSTA eliminate
\nTSCL’s two schedule changes for certain personal events, which
\nare now covered under ESSTA’s safe time provision (care for a
\nminor child or care recipient and actions related to subsistence
\nbenefits or housing). Employees remain permitted to request
\ntemporary schedule changes, but employers may deny the request and
\nrequire employees to use ESSTA leave if available. <\/p>\n

Private Right of Action<\/p>\n

The 2024 amendment to ESSTA providing for a private right of
\naction remains unchanged. As such, employees alleging a violation
\nof ESSTA’s provisions may, within two years of the violation,
\ncommence a civil action for damages as well as injunctive and
\ndeclaratory relief, attorneys’ fees and costs, and other relief
\nas the court deems appropriate. An employee need not file a
\ncomplaint with the Department of Consumer and Worker Protection
\n(DCWP) prior to filing a lawsuit against their employer (i.e., no
\nexhaustion requirement exists). Employees may also elect to file a
\ncomplaint with the DCWP, but the remedies available are much more
\nlimited.<\/p>\n

Key Takeaways for Employers<\/p>\n


\nEmployers should revise leave policies, handbooks, and new-hire
\nmaterials to include the 32 hours of immediately available unpaid
\nleave, its non-carry-over status, the minimum increment
\nrequirement, and clarify when accrued safe\/sick time must be used
\ninstead. Employers should also make sure they have internal systems
\nin place to track usage of the 32 unpaid hours of leave.
\n
\nEmployers should update leave policies and handbooks to
\nidentify prenatal leave as a separate entitlement and explain
\neligibility, increments, notice, and request procedures.
\n
\nEmployers should update leave policies and handbooks with the
\nexpanded reasons for using safe and sick time. It is important that
\nemployers with employees working in both New York City and
\nelsewhere in New York State note that the amendments expand
\nESSTA’s scope beyond the New York State sick leave law. New
\nYork State’s covered reasons for using sick time are limited to
\nan employee’s or their family member’s illness, injury, or
\nhealth condition and diagnosis, care, treatment, or preventative
\ncare for such illness, injury, or condition.
\n
\nEmployers must treat documentation from legal and social
\nservices providers, courts, government agencies, and school and
\ncare providers confirming the need for safe time as sufficient and
\nmust avoid demanding underlying details. Improperly rejecting
\ndocumentation from these additional entities risks triggering
\nstatutory or civil penalties.
\n
\nWe also recommend that employers train supervisors, human
\nresources personnel, and leave administrators on the difference
\nbetween ESSTA, which mandates that employers grant covered
\nsafe\/sick time requests, and the amended TSCL, which gives
\nemployers the discretion to grant or deny employees’ requests
\nfor temporary schedule changes. <\/p>\n

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This Mayer Brown<\/a> article provides information and
\ncomments on legal issues and developments of interest. The
\nforegoing is not a comprehensive treatment of the subject matter
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