Since January 1, 2025, New York State’s Paid Prenatal Leave Law has required that all private-sector employers provide employees with 20 hours of paid leave for health care appointments related to prenatal care or pregnancy. New York State has released additional guidance for employers and an FAQ page on what the new law covers and requires. Effective July 2, 2025, New York City’s Department of Consumer and Worker Protection (DCWP) issued an amended rule to the NYC Earned Safe and Sick Time Act (ESSTA) that adopts “by reference the paid prenatal leave requirements set forth in” the New York State law.
In general, the ESSTA requires New York City employers to provide up to 40 or 56 hours (depending on the size of the employer) of safe/sick leave each calendar year for the purpose of obtaining medical care for a mental or physical condition of the employee or a family member, or to take leave in the event of domestic violence, sexual abuse, stalking, or human trafficking. This aligns the ESSTA with New York State’s Paid Sick Leave Law.
Although there is a question as to whether the DCWP has the authority to implement this change in the absence of legislative action by the New York City Council, by amending the ESSTA to incorporate New York State’s Paid Prenatal Leave Law, New York City brings its rules in further alignment with New York State’s. In addition to the required 40 or 56 hours of safe/sick leave time, NYC employers will now also be required to provide eligible employees with an additional 20 hours of time off for prenatal and pregnancy related health care. By incorporating through reference, the ESSTA adopts some of the key components of the New York State Paid Prenatal Leave Law, including the following:
- Paid prenatal leave is defined as “leave taken for the health care services received by an employee during their pregnancy or related to such pregnancy, including physical examinations, medical procedures, monitoring and testing, and discussions with a health care provider related to the pregnancy.” Therefore, paid prenatal leave may be taken only by the employee receiving prenatal health care services and not by a spouse or partner who is attending the appointment.
- Paid prenatal leave may be taken in one-hour increments, but employees should still follow their employer’s policies and procedures for requesting time off.
- Employees taking paid prenatal leave must be paid at their regular rate.
- Employers cannot require an employee to disclose medical records or the nature of the health care services they receive while on leave.
In addition to adopting these key provisions, the ESSTA goes a step further by requiring the following:
- Employers must inform employees of the amount of paid prenatal leave used during the pay period and their total remaining balance.
- Employers must maintain (or update) their written policies to include paid prenatal leave and the policies must be distributed to employees upon hire, within 14 days of any change to the policy, or upon employee request.
- Employers must also provide employees with an updated Notice of Rights that includes references to their right to paid prenatal leave.
Employers should take this opportunity to review their sick leave policies and practices to ensure they are in compliance with the above amendments. Employers who make any amendments to their policies should ensure they distributed to their employees. Additionally, payroll practices should be updated to incorporate the need to notify employees of the paid prenatal care they are entitled to and have taken.