Key Points
- Expanded leave. Beginning February 22, 2026, covered New York City employers must provide employees with an additional 32 hours of unpaid safe and sick time, frontloaded at hire.
- New permissible uses. The amended Earned Safe and Sick Time Act (ESSTA) adds four potential uses for safe and sick time, including care for a minor child, attending legal proceedings for subsistence or housing benefits, public disasters and incidents of workplace violence.
- Prenatal leave requirement. Employers must also provide 20 hours of paid prenatal leave per 52-week period, which is concurrent with New York State law.
The New York City Council recently amended the New York City Earned Safe and Sick Time Act (ESSTA) to align with the requirements of the Temporary Schedule Change Act (TSCA).
These amendments, enacted on October 25, 2025, go into effect on February 22, 2026.
Currently, the ESSTA requires covered New York City employers to provide their employees who work in New York City with 40 to 56 hours of paid safe and sick leave, depending on employer size. As amended, those employers will need to provide employees with an additional 32 hours of unpaid safe and sick time frontloaded for use immediately upon hire. The intent of this frontloading is to replace the two days of temporary schedule changes per calendar year already provided for by the TSCA. However, employees can still request temporary schedule changes subject to their employer’s approval.
The amendment does not require employers to carry over unused, unpaid safe and sick time from the 32-hour bank into the next calendar year. Once the amendment goes into effect, the employer must provide safe and sick time when an employee requests time off pursuant to ESSTA unless such time is unavailable or the employee specifically requests to use other leave in lieu of safe and sick time. As with paid safe and sick leave, employers can set a reasonable minimum increment for use of the additional 32 hours of unpaid safe and sick time, which shall not exceed four hours per day. In addition, when granting leave under ESSTA, the amendment permits an employer to require an employee to use paid safe and sick time before they may take the time unpaid.
Further, the amendment to the ESSTA adds four potential uses for safe and sick time to include the personal circumstances to which the TSCA applies, which include:
- To provide care for a minor child or care recipient.
- To attend a legal proceeding for subsistence benefits or housing.
- In the case of a public disaster.
- When an employee or employee’s family member has been the victim of workplace violence.
The amendment also requires employers to provide eligible employees with 20 hours of paid prenatal leave during any 52-week calendar period. This leave is concurrent with 20 hours of paid prenatal leave currently required under New York State law. The amendment permits employers to set a reasonable minimum increment not to exceed one hour per day for the use of paid prenatal leave.
The New York City Department of Consumer and Worker Protection requires all employers to maintain written policies that comply with the ESSTA. Accordingly, New York City employers must review and update their employee handbooks and other relevant policies to include these amendments to ESSTA, so that they remain in compliance with New York City law.
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