Effective July 2, 2025, amended rules to the New York City (NYC) Earned Safe and Sick Time Act (ESSTA) take effect which specifically incorporate the New York State (NYS) Paid Prenatal Personal Leave Law (PPPL) and create additional obligations for NYC employers.
NYS Paid Prenatal Personal Leave Law
By way of background, effective January 1, 2025, NYS employers must provide employees with up to 20 hours of paid prenatal personal leave during any 52-week calendar period to be used for pregnancy-related health care such as physical examinations, medical procedures, monitoring and testing, and discussions with a health care provider related to pregnancy. Additionally, NYS employers are required to compensate employees using prenatal leave at their regular rate of pay or the applicable minimum wage, whichever is higher.
ESSTA Amended Rules Applicable to NYS Paid Prenatal Leave
NYC employers must be mindful of the requirements under the amended rules to the ESSTA (as well as the requirements under the NYS PPPL and its guidance) including, but not limited to:
Written Policy: NYC employers must maintain a written paid prenatal leave policy and distribute the policy to employees personally upon commencement of employment, within 14 days of when any changes to the policy take effect, and upon an employee’s request. The policy must meet or exceed all of the requirements of the NYC ESSTA and must address the following:
- The availability of a separate bank of 20 hours of paid prenatal leave during any 52 week calendar period, in accordance with section 7-216.
- Employer policies regarding use of paid prenatal leave including limitations or conditions the employer places on the use of same, notice practice regarding paid prenatal leave, documentation practices and procedures regarding paid prenatal leave, minimum increments for paid prenatal leave, and any policy on discipline for employee misuse of paid prenatal leave.
- A statement that the employer will not ask the employee to provide details about the medical condition that led the employee to use sick time or paid prenatal leave and that any information the employer receives regarding same will be kept confidential and not disclosed to anyone without the employee’s written permission or as required by law.
Balance Notification: For each pay period an employee uses paid prenatal leave, the employer must notify the employee of the amount of paid prenatal leave used during the pay period and the total balance of paid prenatal leave remaining either on a pay stub or in other written documentation.
Documentation: An employer may require an employee to submit reasonable documentation that paid prenatal leave was used for an authorized purpose if the employee’s use of paid prenatal leave results in a leave of more than 3 consecutive work days.
Employee Notification: An employer may require that an employee provide reasonable notice of the need to use paid prenatal leave (not more than 7 days) if the need is foreseeable. If the need is unforeseeable, an employer may require that an employee provide notice as soon as practicable.
Recordkeeping: An employer is required to maintain the following records for each employee: the date and time of each instance of paid prenatal leave used by the employee; the amount the employer paid the employee each instance of paid prenatal leave used; the amount of paid prenatal leave used during each pay period; and the employee’s total balance of paid prenatal leave for each pay period.
Takeaways
Employers who operate in NYC should ensure compliance with these requirements under the ESSTA amended rules as well as the requirements of the NYS PPPL and its guidance. In doing so, employers may want to consider reviewing and revising any existing sick leave or paid time off policies and training any HR and any supervisors on these new requirements regarding paid prenatal leave.
This summary is for informational purposes only and is not intended to constitute legal advice. This information should not be reused without permission.