Beginning July 31, 2025, New York employers will no longer be required to provide separate leave for COVID-19 quarantines and isolations. This marks a significant shift in pandemic-related employment policies for businesses in the Empire State.
New York’s COVID-19 Paid Emergency Leave (“PEL”) was originally enacted in March 2020, during the height of the COVID-19 outbreak. PEL requires employers provide up to fourteen (14) days of protected, paid leave to employees who are subject to a mandatory or precautionary order of isolation or quarantine due to COVID-19, and who cannot work remotely. PEL is limited exclusively to COVID-19, and its paid leave benefits are separate from and additional to other paid sick and safe leave benefits—including New York State’s Paid Sick and Safe Leave law, New York City’s Earned Sick and Safe Time law, and New York’s Paid Family Leave law.
When enacted, PEL did not contain an expiration date; nor was one provided in subsequent guidance. But on April 24, 2024, Governor Hochul signed the 2024-2025 New York State Budget. This Budget includes a provision sunsetting PEL—a measure many employers and legislators believed was long overdue. Indeed, while numerous other jurisdictions passed similar COVID-19 leave laws, New York’s PEL is the last such statute remaining in effect.
With the impending repeal of PEL, employers are reminded to remain compliant with other paid sick and safe leave benefits. Serious COVID-19 cases or other illnesses may still trigger obligations under various protected leave and medical accommodation laws, such as the federal Family and Medical Leave Act, the Americans with Disabilities Act, the New York Human Rights Law, and the New York City Human Rights Law.