Employers in New York City must comply with new rules concerning their employees' right to paid prenatal leave under the New York City Earned Safe and Sick Time Act (ESSTA). These rules follow New York state's groundbreaking paid prenatal leave requirement and amend the ESSTA to incorporate the state prenatal leave protections, as well as adding additional requirements (as discussed below). The amended rules took effect on July 2, 2025.
New York State Paid Prenatal Leave Requirement
The New York City Department of Consumer and Worker Protection (DCWP) formally incorporated the state prenatal leave requirement into ESSTA. As described in our previous advisory, all private employers in New York are required to provide pregnant employees with 20 hours of paid prenatal leave per 52-week period. The statute provides for paid prenatal leave to be used in hourly increments for "physical examinations, medical procedures, monitoring and testing, and discussions with a health care provider related to the pregnancy," including fertility treatments and end-of-pregnancy care appointments. Significantly, the 20 hours of leave is in addition to any paid sick and safe leave to which an employee is entitled.
Additional NYC Requirements
In addition to the state requirements, New York City employers must also inform employees of their available paid prenatal leave balance. Specifically, for each pay period in which an employee uses prenatal leave, the employer must inform the employee in writing of:
- the amount of prenatal leave used during the relevant pay period; and
- the total remaining balance of prenatal leave.
This information can be provided either on the employee's pay statement or in another form of written documentation. As with the state law, employees are entitled to 20 hours of leave per 52-week period, which is measured beginning the first time the employee uses paid prenatal leave, rather than by the calendar year.
The DCWP also issued an updated Notice of Employee Rights that includes paid prenatal leave. The updated notice must be both posted and provided to new hires and to current employees when rights change, as they did with the enactment of the amended rules. Employers must also maintain a record of receipt by the employee.
Notable Differences Between State and City Rules
There are two significant differences between the state and city rules. First, unlike the New York state rule, which explains employees are not required to submit medical records, DCWP's amended rules permit an employer to request documentation supporting an employee's use of prenatal leave after the employee has been absent more than three consecutive workdays.
Second, DCWP's amended rules permit an employer to require an employee to provide reasonable notice of the need to use prenatal leave for "foreseeable" absences. State law and guidance, however, does not distinguish between "foreseeable" or "unforeseeable" absences. As discussed in our previous advisory, state guidance merely says that employees should use regular procedures for time off requests.
Takeaways
- NYC employers should make sure they have a written policy in place that details the paid leave to which employees are entitled under the law and that this policy is clearly posted in the workplace.
- NYC employers should coordinate with their payroll providers to ensure compliance with the rule's reporting requirement if they wish to include the required information on employee paystubs.
- NYC employers should train managers on the new law so that they may be able to handle requests by employees for prenatal leave.
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