Changes Are Coming To NYC Leave Requirements – What Employers Need To Know

New York, N.Y. (November 17, 2025) - The New York City Council recently amended both the Earned Safe and Sick Time Act (ESSTA) and the Temporary Schedule Change Act (TSCA). Because Mayor Adams failed to sign or veto the amendments, they will become effective on February 22, 2026. Preparing to comply with the requirements resulting from these developments must be on the agenda for 2026 for all employers with employees working in the Big Apple.

Key Highlights

The key amendments are as follows:

• The reasons an employee can use paid safe/sick time are expanded
  
• Employees will have an additional 32 hours of unpaid safe/sick time immediately upon hire and every "calendar year" thereafter

• The ESSTA now incorporates the existing New York State requirement to provide employees with 20 hours of paid prenatal leave
  
• The requirement that employers provide two guaranteed temporary schedule change requests per year is eliminated, but the process for employees to submit schedule change requests which may be granted or denied by the employer remains in effect

Expanded Covered Reasons for Paid Safe/Sick Leave

The ESSTA currently requires employers to provide employees working in New York City with up to 40 or 56 hours of paid safe/sick time, depending on employer size, per "calendar year." The "calendar year" is the regular and consecutive 12-month period as determined by the employer. Most employers use an employee's employment anniversary, their fiscal year, or the calendar year (Jan. – Dec.). Certain small employers with fewer than five employees only have to provide up to 40 hours of unpaid leave. For purposes of this Alert, we do not address these differing requirements for small employers.

The ESSTA amendments expand the covered reasons an employee can use safe/sick time to include the following:

• Closure of the employee's place of business or the need to care for a child whose school or childcare provider is closed due to a public disaster
  
• Direction by a public office to remain indoors or avoid travel during a public disaster which prevents an employee from reporting to their work location
  
• The need for an employee caregiver to provide care for a minor child or "care recipient." The term "care recipient" means a person with a disability, including a temporary disability, who (i) is the caregiver's family member or resides in the caregiver's household and (ii) relies on the caregiver for medical care or to meet the needs of daily living
  
• Initiating, attending or preparing for a legal proceeding or hearing related to subsistence benefits or housing to which the employee, the employee's family member, or the employee's care recipient is a party, or taking actions necessary to apply for, maintain, or restore subsistence benefits or shelter for the employee or their family member or care recipient
  
• The need for time off to obtain covered services or participate in safety planning when an employee or their family member is a victim of workplace violence (which is defined as an act or threat of violence against an employee that occurs in the workplace)

"Public disaster" is defined as "an event such as fire, explosion, terrorist attack, severe weather conditions or other catastrophe that is declared a public emergency or disaster by the president of the United States, the governor of the state of New York or the mayor of the City of New York."

New Bank of 32 Hours of Frontloaded Unpaid Leave

Under the ESSTA, employers are required to provide employees with up to 40 or 56 hours of paid safe/sick time, depending on employer size. Employers can frontload this benefit or require employees to accrue safe/sick time at the rate of 1 hour for every 30 hours worked (or any other faster rate provided by an employer). In addition to this existing paid leave right, employers will now be required to provide their NYC employees with an additional 32 hours of unpaid safe/sick time. Unpaid safe/sick time must be frontloaded upon hire and each "calendar year" thereafter and is immediately available for use once frontloaded. Employers are not required, however, to carry-over unpaid safe/sick time that remains unused at the end of a "calendar year." Because accrual of this unpaid leave right is not permitted, employers who accrue paid safe/sick time will be required to administer paid and unpaid leave under two different systems.

The ESSTA amendments do not address whether the amount of unpaid safe/sick time can be pro-rated for part-time employees.

For employees covered by a collective bargaining agreement, unpaid safe/sick time is not considered a comparable benefit for paid safe/sick time or paid prenatal leave.

Administration of Paid and Unpaid Leave

Once an employee notifies the employer that they need to take time off for a covered reason, the employer must provide paid safe/sick time unless no paid leave is available or the employee specifically requests to use unpaid safe/sick time in lieu of available paid leave. Employers will need to review their administrative procedures to ensure requests for safe/sick time default to paid leave unless no such time is available or the employee specifically requests to use unpaid safe/sick time. Any request to use unpaid safe/sick time in lieu of paid leave should be documented. When unpaid safe/sick time is requested, employers can establish a minimum increment of use of up to four hours per day.

To comply with the ESSTA's notice and recordkeeping requirements, the amount of available unpaid safe/sick time must be reported on an employee's paystub or other written documentation provided to an employee each pay period. This requirement also can be satisfied by making this information available on an employee-accessible electronic system.

Under the ESSTA, an employer may use an existing paid leave policy (e.g., vacation, PTO) to satisfy the paid safe/sick time requirements provided the employee receives the required amount of paid safe/sick time, which can be used for all covered reasons and under the same conditions (e.g., notice, documentation, carry-over, etc.) as set forth in the ESSTA. Unfortunately, the amendments do not address this situation for the new unpaid safe/sick time requirement. As a result, it is unclear whether employers can use other available leave to satisfy the new unpaid leave requirement and further guidance from the City is needed.

Paid Prenatal Leave

On January 1, 2025, New York State became the first state in the nation to require all private-sector employers, regardless of size, to provide employees with 20 hours of paid prenatal leave. Paid prenatal leave is a stand-alone paid leave benefit that must be provided in addition to safe/sick time and all 20 hours must be immediately available to employees. On June 3, 2025, NYC amended the ESSTA rules to incorporate this benefit. To further align this benefit, paid prenatal leave is now codified into the amended ESSTA. Please consult our prior Client Alert for more information about employers' obligation to provide paid prenatal leave.

Amendments to TSCA

Under this law, employers have been required to approve up to two temporary schedule change requests relating to personal events within a calendar year. With the addition of 32 hours of unpaid safe/sick time and the expansion of the covered reasons for the use of such leave, the guaranteed temporary schedule changes requirement is eliminated. Employees can still request a temporary schedule change, but the employer is free to grant or deny the request. Also, while the employer can offer an alternative temporary schedule change, the employee is not required to accept the proposed schedule change. Employers are required to respond to any temporary schedule change request as soon as practicable.

Next Steps for Employers

• Employers which have employees in New York City must review and update their existing safe/sick time and temporary schedule change policies to address the new requirements prior to February 22, 2026. As a reminder, New York State also has similar paid safe/sick time requirements, but some administrative requirements such as carry-over and notice differ from those of the City law. Any updated policy must comply with both the City and State requirements
  
• Employers must issue and post an updated Notice of Employee Rights once the City publishes the content
  
• Employers must communicate the new leave benefit and any changes to how an employee must request safe/sick time with employees and managers
  
• Employers must ensure administrative leave management systems and paystubs or other employee-accessible electronic systems separately tracks the use of both paid and unpaid safe/sick time
  
• It is important to train managers on the new requirements, including how to respond to temporary schedule change requests
  
• Employer are required to maintain records showing leave balances and use for three years

The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.