As previously reported here, on January 1, 2025, all private employers in New York State were required to begin providing their employees with up to twenty (20) hours of paid leave during any 52-week period for prenatal healthcare services received by an employee during or related to the employee’s pregnancy (“Prenatal Leave”). New York City has now amended its rules related to its Earned Safe and Sick Time Act (“ESSTA”), incorporating the NYS Prenatal Leave requirements effective July 2, 2025, for all NYC employers regardless of size or net income. There are several enhancements to the Prenatal Leave requirements for NYC employers that require immediate compliance beginning on July 2.
New Notice of Rights
NYC employers have had an obligation to provide the NYC ESSTA Notice of Rights (“Notice”) to new employees upon hire and to post the Notice in the workplace. NYC has now updated the Notice to include Prenatal Leave. The updated Notice must be provided to current employees on or by July 2 and must also be provided to all new employees upon hire. Employers must maintain a record of receipt of the Notice by each employee. All NYC employers must update their postings in the workplace to include this new Notice as well. The updated Notice can be found here.
This Notice requirement applies to all NYC employers and must be received by all employees by or on July 2, and to all new hires moving forward.
Paystub Requirement
For each pay period that an employee uses Prenatal Leave, employers must provide in writing to the employee (1) the amount of Prenatal Leave used during the pay period, and (2) the total amount of Prenatal Leave still available for use in the 52-week period. This must be provided in each employee’s paystub or other pay statement provided to the employee. This information can be provided by electronic paystub if employees are notified when it becomes available, and must be easily accessible in and outside of the workplace.
This is in addition to the requirement under NYC law to provide paystub information of Safe and Sick time accrued and used by the employee.
Additionally, there is a new recordkeeping requirement for employers to record the date and time of each instance of Prenatal Leave for each employee and the amount paid for each use.
Written Prenatal Leave Policy Required
Employers must draft a written Prenatal Leave policy and distribute it to new employees upon hire and to all current employees.
Employer Takeaways
As paid Prenatal Leave is a benefit separate from and in addition to paid Safe and Sick Leave or other paid time off, an employer’s Prenatal Leave policy should not be combined or included in other allotments of time off under other leave policies.
NYC employers should be prepared to implement and distribute their new Prenatal Leave policies to their employees and post the new Notice on or by July 2, 2025. In determining a distribution method of the new Notice, employers should ensure that it provides confirmation of receipt by the employees.
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