New York City has recently updated its Earned Safe and Sick Time Act (ESSTA) Rules and Frequently Asked Questions to address the requirements of the New York State Prenatal Leave law. As discussed in our prior alerts in April 2024 and December 2024, New York employers are required to provide employees with up to 20 hours of paid prenatal leave, in addition to safe and sick leave, under New York City’s ESSTA and New York State’s Sick Leave Law.
The city’s update to its Rules generally incorporates New York’s prenatal leave requirements into ESSTA. As discussed below, the new Rules contain additional requirements that New York City employers must implement.
ESSTA Policy Must Now Include Prenatal Leave
Employers must update their sick leave policies to include prenatal leave requirements. The policy must inform employees of:
- The availability of a separate bank of 20 hours of paid prenatal leave per 52-week period.
- The minimum increment of prenatal leave that may be used at any one time.
- Other details concerning the use of prenatal leave.
In addition, the policy must include a statement that the employer will not require employees to provide details about the medical condition that led the employee to use prenatal leave and that it will keep any information it does receive about the employee’s use of prenatal leave confidential.
Employers should update and distribute their policies to employees by July 16, 2025, as well as within 14 days of any future policy changes.
Employers Must Post and Provide Updated Notice
New York City has also updated the Notice of Employee Rights that must be provided to all employees. The updated notice is available here. Employers must provide a copy of the updated notice to all current employees, provide this new notice to new employees going forward, and post the updated notice in the workplace in an area that is visible and accessible to employees in English and in any language that is the primary language of at least 5% of employees at the workplace, to the extent a poster is available in such language on the Department of Consumer and Workforce Protection’s website.
Paystubs Must Record Prenatal Leave
Employers must provide certain information concerning prenatal leave on employee wage statements, but only during weeks when prenatal leave is used. For each pay period where an employee uses prenatal leave, the pay stub must state:
- The amount of paid prenatal leave used during the pay period.
- The total remaining balance of paid prenatal leave for the remainder of the 52-week period.
- To remain compliant, New York City employers must ensure that their policies and notices are updated and redistributed to current employees and that their payroll provider has taken steps to ensure that prenatal leave information is displayed on pay stubs during any period it is used by an employee.
[View source.]
