NYC Updates Safe And Sick Leave Requirements

New York City has amended its Earned Safe and Sick Time Act (the Law) to provide new forms of leave and update existing leave requirements. Legislative changes to the Law took effect in February 2026, and the City issued rules on July 23, 2026, clarifying the new provisions. The City now refers to the Law as the Protected Time Off Law.

One of the most significant changes to the Law is that employers must now provide 32 hours of unpaid protected time off to virtually all employees. Under this new provision, employers must make this leave available in full immediately, either on the first day of employment or the first day of the new calendar year, as applicable. Employees do not accrue this time; instead, the full amount is front-loaded. This unpaid leave constitutes a separate leave bank from paid safe and sick leave.

When an employee has both paid and unpaid leave time available for a particular type of leave, employers may first apply paid leave, unless the employee specifically requests to use unpaid leave. Notably, unlike paid safe and sick leave, employers are not required to carry over the unpaid leave recently added to the Law from one calendar year to the next.

Another new change is that employers must now provide paid prenatal leave to eligible employees in addition to protected time off. This leave is time off from work that employees may use for healthcare during their pregnancy or related to their pregnancy. Paid prenatal leave constitutes a separate bank of paid leave that is in addition to protected time off, whether paid or unpaid. Eligible employees automatically receive 20 hours of paid prenatal leave on Jan. 1 of each year or on their first date of employment. This leave does not accrue. Unlike protected time off, paid prenatal leave is not measured on a calendar year basis but rather on a 52-week cycle. The 52-week period begins on the first day an employee uses paid prenatal leave. Paid prenatal leave does not carry over from one 52-week period to the next. This leave is not available to an employee who is not the pregnant parent.

Recordkeeping Requirements and Employer Considerations

The amendments also update recordkeeping requirements. Employers must retain copies of their current and prior written protected time off policies and must maintain records demonstrating compliance with the Law. These records must include the date and time when an employee used protected time off, as well as each written notice (Notice of Employee Rights form) provided to the employee. (Employers must provide employees with a written Notice of Employee Rights at the start of employment and whenever those rights change.) Additionally, for each pay period, an employer must keep records of the amount of protected time off accrued and used during the pay period, the employee’s balance of accrued and front-loaded leave, and the total amount of leave available for use by the employee. Employers must also maintain similar records for paid prenatal leave.

Employers should also be mindful of the penalty provisions. In addition to any amounts owed to employees, civil penalties begin at up to $500 for a first violation and escalate for second and subsequent violations. Penalties are assessed on a per-employee, per-instance basis and may accumulate quickly.

Given the complexity of the Law and the new provisions that have taken effect, employers may wish to review their protected time off policies, recordkeeping practices, and administrative procedures to confirm compliance and seek to avoid costly violations.

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