New York City’s Earned Safe and Sick Time Act (“ESSTA”) has been amended once again expanding the law’s scope and requirements for all covered New York City employers. The law was enacted on October 25, 2025, and will take effect in 120 days on Sunday, February 22, 2026.
This new law amends the ESSTA in significant ways that affect employers, including by: (1) adding an additional annual bank of 32 hours of unpaid leave for all employees, (2) expanding the circumstances under which employees may use safe and sick time, (3) codifying New York State’s (NYS’s) paid parental leave, previously approved by the City, into law and (4) modifying the current Temporary Schedule Change Act (“TSCA”).
Additional 32-Hour Bank of Unpaid Safe and Sick Leave
The ESSTA amendment creates a new bank of 32 hours of unpaid safe and sick time to be provided upon hire and again on the first day of each calendar year. This “frontloaded” bank of time is separate and distinct from, and in addition to, the law’s preexisting benefits for paid safe and sick time.
Employees must generally use their paid safe and sick time first before using time from this new unpaid bank. However, if an employee specifically requests to use unpaid leave in lieu of their paid safe and sick time (or if enough paid time has not yet accrued), employers must permit use of leave time from this unpaid bank. Unlike the requirements for paid safe and sick time, employers are not required to carry over any unused time from this bank to the next year.
As with the time available under the paid leave requirements of ESSTA, this unpaid benefit must be reflected on employees’ paystubs.
New Reasons Employees May Use Safe and Sick Time
Employees may use safe and sick time for new reasons. Sick time permissible uses are expanded to include the following events related to a public disaster:
- When an employee’s place of business is closed;
- To care for a child whose school or childcare provider restricted in-person operations; and
- If an employee is prevented from reporting to work because of a public official order to remain indoors or avoid travel.
Safe time permissible uses are expanded to include the following additional reasons that an employee may use leave:
- Where workplace violence has occurred involving an employee or their family member in response to which an employee can use safe time to take any number of specific protective actions;
- When the employee is a caregiver for a minor child or a person with a disability, to provide care; and
- In connection with legal proceedings related to (or to obtain or continue) subsistence benefits or housing for themselves, their family member, or care recipient.
Paid Prenatal Leave
In July 2025, NYC amended its ESSTA rules to incorporate the NYS Paid Prenatal Leave requirements. These most recent amendments now formally incorporate New York State’s 20-hour paid prenatal leave requirements into ESSTA itself. The 20-hour paid prenatal leave is its own bank of leave, separate from all other leaves provided under the law.
Alignment of the NYC Temporary Schedule Change Act and ESSTA
The new law aligns some of the requirements under existing law with this now amended ESSTA. Under the TSCA, NYC employers had been required to permit an employee two temporary schedule changes per year to accommodate “personal events.” Since the definition of “personal events” under the TSCA now largely aligns with the amended permissible safe and sick time uses under ESSTA, the TSCA requirements have been modified.
Under the law as amended, employees may still request a temporary schedule change, but employers are not required to agree. Employers at their discretion may suggest an alternative temporary schedule change, but they are not required to do so, and employees are not required to accept the proposal. The employers’ only obligation is to respond to the employees’ request as soon as practicable. The TSCA’s prohibition on retaliation against workers who request schedule changes would remain in effect.
Additional Pending ESSTA Legislation
Two additional NYC bills relating to ESSTA are currently with the Committee on Consumer and Worker Protection. If passed by the NYC Council and enacted, the bills would require covered employers to provide five hours of paid time off annually for preventative medical screening and paid bereavement time following a firearm related death of a family member.
Action Items for Employers
NYC employers should review and begin to update existing leave policies to reflect these new changes in the law. Employers should also pay attention to updates from NYC with guidance on implementing this new law.
Afsha Malik, law clerk at Tarter Krinsky & Drogin, also contributed to this article.
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