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New York City Amends Sick Time Law to Require New Unpaid Leave and Permit New Covered Uses

"The amended ESSTA requires employers to make available the additional 32 hours of unpaid safe/sick time immediately at hire, as well as to 'frontload' it at the start of each new benefit year. The unpaid safe/sick time may be used immediately by employees upon receipt. Further, under the amended ESSTA, if an employee communicates to their employer that they need time off for a purpose covered by safe/sick time, the employer must provide paid safe/sick time unless the employee has no such time available or the employee specifically requests to use other leave in lieu of paid safe/sick time."  MORE >>

New York City Employers: Changes Required by Amendments to Increase Earned Safe and Sick Time Act

"The Earned Sick and Safe Time Act has been expanded to [1] formally codify the paid prenatal leave requirements into the local law, [2] provide for additional unpaid time, and [3] permit more reasons for use of time."  MORE >>

New York City Employers: Changes to Earned Safe and Sick Time Act Require Prompt Action

"[E]mployers will be required to provide additional paid leave and unpaid leave to all employees, including new employees upon hire with no probation period By March 8, employers are required to revise policies and procedures to comply, and must also physically post and distribute an updated notice of employee rights to current employees and new hires"  MORE >>

New York City Amends Earned Safe and Sick Time Rules to Add Detailed Paid Prenatal Leave Requirements

"Going forward, employers with operations in New York City will need to assess both the existing New York State Paid Prenatal Leave entitlement and the New York City paid prenatal leave content in the amended Rules to determine their compliance requirements. The amended ESSTA Rules' paid prenatal leave amendments touch ... the amount of paid prenatal leave, written policy requirements, balance notification, documentation, employee notice, increments of use, coordination with other leaves, recordkeeping, and potential penalties."  MORE >>

New York City Poised to Require Employers to Provide Parents with Paid Child Vaccination Time Off

"On November 23, 2021, the New York City Council approved a bill that ... would amend New York City's Earned Safe and Sick Time Act ... [to] provide employees with paid time off in connection with vaccinating their children for COVID-19.... If signed by the Mayor or if no action is taken by the Mayor [by December 23], the amended ordinance will become effective immediately, with retroactive effect to November 2, 2021. The child vaccine paid time off would expire on December 31, 2022."  MORE >>

New York City Council to Consider Expanding Earned Safe and Sick Time Act to Require 'Personal Time'

"The New York City Council is considering a bill that would expand the NYC Earned Safe and Sick Time Act (ESSTA) to provide eligible employees with 'personal time' that could be used for any reason. The bill would also expand protections and remedies applicable to all leave under the law, including sick and safe time.... While the bill is still in the early stages of consideration and its future remains to be seen, Mayor Bill de Blasio has expressed his support for paid personal leave."

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New Amendments to New York City's Earned Safe and Sick Time Act Require Prompt Employer Action

"[T]he Amendments impose [1] a new notice requirement that employers must comply with by October 30, 2020, and [2] a requirement, effective September 30, 2020, that New York City-based employers include information about accrued and used safe and sick time on employees' pay stubs."

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New York City Earned Sick Time Act Updates Take Effect: New Policies and Notices to Employees Required

"The new law allows employees to use paid time off under the law for 'safe time' in addition to sick time.... Employees can use safe/sick time not only for their own needs, but also if their family member needs care or is the victim of certain offenses.... The 'Notice of Employee Rights' issued by the NYC Department of Consumer Affairs (DCA) ... has been updated to reflect the recent changes.... [T]he law requires that all employees, even those who have previously received a Notice, receive the updated Notice by June 4, 2018."  MORE >>

New York City Issues New Requirements for Earned Safe and Sick Time Act

"New York State has not yet issued any guidance or implementing regulations to clarify the many questions left unanswered by the NYSSLL. Nevertheless, employers in New York City may want to review and prepare to comply with the new obligations created by the amendments to the ESSTA. Certain changes to the ESSTA and how they compare with the NYSSLL are outlined [in chart form]."

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Amended New York City Earned Sick Time Law Requires Prompt Action by Employers

"The amended law took effect May 5, 2018, but the Department of Consumer Affairs only recently published the revised notice relating to Earned Sick Time Act and announced that the new notice must be distributed to employees by June 4, 2018.... To demonstrate compliance with the City's deadlines, employers will be required to retain records proving that they distributed the new policies and notices to current and new employees by June 4, 2018."  MORE >>

Deal Reached to Require Paid Sick Leave for Employees in New York City

"The legislation would eventually force companies with at least 15 employees to give full-time workers five compensated days off a year when they are ill, a requirement that advocates said would allow much of the city's labor force to stay home from work without fear of losing a day's wage -- or worse, a job. The advocates said the legislation would provide paid sick leave for one million New Yorkers who do not currently have such benefits.... New York City's mandate would not take effect until spring 2014, and for the first 18 months, it would apply only to businesses with 20 or more employees[.]"

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New York Will Not Require Out-of-Network Coverage for ACA Plans

"New York State health officials said on [April 25] that they would not require out-of-network coverage on [ACA] health plans next year, a decision likely to disappoint customers who have complained that they can no longer use their favorite doctors and hospitals. Restricting consumers to a fixed network of doctors and hospitals, called in-network coverage, helps keep costs down, and for the first year, none of the 16 insurance companies in New York's exchange deviated from that model."

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New York City Expands Earned Safe and Sick Time Again

"New York City's Earned Safe and Sick Time Act (ESSTA) adds 32 hours of frontloaded unpaid safe/sick time to its existing paid safe/sick time requirements for employers. The ESSTA also expands the permissible uses for both types of leave under the Act to include scenarios tied to caregiving, housing or subsistence proceedings, public disasters and workplace violence. Employers ... will no longer be required to grant a set number of temporary schedule changes; employees, instead, will enjoy a protected right to request such changes."  MORE >>

Prepare Your Workplace: New York City Sick Time Law Expands Next Month

"Amendments to the New York City Earned Safe and Sick Time Act and the Temporary Schedule Change Law will require employers to provide additional unpaid sick/safe time and expand the reasons for which sick/safe time can be used, while dialing back employers' temporary schedule change obligations. Ahead of the February 22, 2026 effective date, employers should update their policies and practices to ensure compliance with the new requirements."  MORE >>

New York City Employers Face New Safe and Sick Time Obligations: Will You Be Ready for the Compliance Deadline?

"The law ... will take effect in 120 days on Sunday, February 22, 2026... Employees must generally use their paid safe and sick time first before using time from this new unpaid bank.... Unlike the requirements for paid safe and sick time, employers are not required to carry over any unused time from this bank to the next year.... Employees may use safe and sick time for new reasons."  MORE >>

Recent Updates to New York City Earned Sick Time Act

"[T]he New York City Earned Safe and Sick Time Act (ESSTA) ... was amended to expand benefits to employees ... by: [1] providing 32 hours of unpaid safe/sick leave to new employees upon hire and to all employees at the beginning of each benefit year, in addition to the required paid safe/sick leave; [2] expanding the categories for which employees can use safe/sick leave; and [3] codifying paid prenatal leave into New York City law. These changes go into effect on February 22, 2026."  MORE >>

Potential Expansion of New York City Earned Safe and Sick Time

"New York City Earned Safe and Sick Time will be greatly expanded. Safe and Sick Time is separate from other types of requisite paid leave, including prenatal leave and preventative screening leave.... [E]mployers will also be required to provide additional unpaid leave to all employees, including new employees upon hire, with no probation period.... [U]nless vetoed by October 25, it will automatically become law -- taking effect 120 days after it was passed -- around January 23, 2026."  MORE >>

Most New York City Employers Must Offer Commuter Transportation Benefits to Full-Time Employees

"New York City's Mass Transit Benefit Law requires that most New York City employers with at least 20 full-time employees offer such full-time employees the opportunity to use their pre-tax earnings, up to $130 per month, to pay for certain 'qualified transportation fringe benefits,' but not qualified parking. Although the Mass Transit Benefit Law takes effect on January 1, 2016, covered employers essentially have a six-month grace period to comply because the law provides that penalties will not be assessed for violations that occur before July 1, 2016. With this law, New York City joins San Francisco and Washington, D.C. in mandating that employers offer transportation benefits to their employees."  MORE >>

New York City Publishes Final Amendments to Earned Safe and Sick Time Rules

"On September 15, 2023, the New York City Department of Consumer and Worker Protection released final amendments to the New York City Earned Safe and Sick Time Act (ESSTA) Rules. Importantly, there are several ESSTA topics that are impacted by the final amended Rules, including employer size, employee eligibility, notice requirements, documentation standards, payment of sick/safe time, and written ESSTA policy requirements."  MORE >>

Newly Adopted Rules Clarify and Enforce New York City's Earned Sick Time Act (PDF)

"[T]emporary help firms that place temporary employees to perform services on behalf of another organization are solely responsible for compliance with [the New York City Earned Sick Time Act (ESTA)] for those temporary employees, regardless of the size of the organization where the employees were placed.... The Adopted Rules include several requirements for employers' written sick time policies.... [The New York City Department of Consumer Affairs] expects employers to maintain, for a period of three years, records demonstrating compliance with ESTA, including records of the required policies."  MORE >>