Amendments to the New York City “Earned Safe and Sick Time Act” (ESTA) went into effect on May 5, 2018. Eligible employees under the ESTA will be able to use paid time off for circumstances resulting from the employee or a covered family member of the employee being the victim of family offense matters, sexual offenses, stalking, or human trafficking.

Additionally, New York City employers are required to provide an updated notice of employee rights to employees within 30 days of the effective date, by June 4, 2018. The notice is available here. Further, employers will need to update existing policy language to comply with the “safe time” amendments.