New York State and New York City have enacted among the most generous mandatory sick leave provisions of any state or city in the nation. On October 25, 2025, new changes were made to the New York City Earned Safe and Sick Time Act (“ESSTA”) which added even more time off rights for New York City employees. These changes take effect on February 22, 2026.
BRIEF SUMMARY OF ESSTA
ESSTA requires that all employers that employ 5 or more employees, all employers of 1 or more domestic workers, and any employer with 4 or fewer employees that has a net income of $1 million or more during the previous tax year must provide paid safe/sick time to their employees. Employers who do not fall within these requirements must provide unpaid safe/sick time in the amounts described below. The term “employees” refers to the number of employees working in New York City, so an employer with a 3 employee facility in New York and other employees working in facilities elsewhere in the United States or overseas is not required to provide paid safe/sick leave under ESSTA.
All employers must provide a minimum of one hour of safe/sick time for every 30 hours worked by an employee, up to a maximum accrual of 40 hours for employers with 99 or fewer employees and 56 hours for employers with 100 or more employees. If an employer provides its employees with paid time off (PTO) or other forms of paid leave that can be used in the same manner as safe/sick leave (meaning the purposes for which it can be used, the advance notice required, etc.) that exceeds the amount of safe/sick leave required by ESSTA, the employer is not required to provide additional safe/sick leave. ESSTA and New York State law have rules for carryover or payout of unused safe/sick leave at the end of the calendar year (which can be January 1, a different specified date such as April 1, or an employee’s anniversary date).
ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS ADDED BY THE NEW LAW
The newly adopted revisions to ESSTA added two more requirements for employers to provide time off to employees. First, in addition to the accrued safe/sick leave described earlier, employers must provide all new employees at the time of hire, and all current employees at the beginning of each calendar year with an additional 32 hours of unpaid leave. Also, ESSTA amendments formally incorporate the New York State requirement that all employees be provided with 20 hours of paid prenatal leave during a calendar year, which is in addition to other paid and unpaid safe/sick leave entitlements.
Further, the revisions to ESSTA set forth additional reasons for which an employer must allow use of paid or unpaid safe/sick leave. These new reasons include:
· time to care for a minor child or “care recipient” where the employee is a caregiver (even if the minor child or “care recipient” is not closely related to the employee),
· to initiate/attend/prepare for legal proceedings related to subsistence benefits or housing for the employee, a family member or “care recipient,” or
· to take actions necessary to apply for, maintain, or restore (a) subsistence benefits or (b) shelter:
o when the employee or a family member has been the victim of workplace violence,
o when the employee’s place of business or child’s school or childcare provider has been closed by order of a public official due to a public disaster,
o when the school or childcare provider restricts in-person operations due to a public health emergency or disaster, or
o when directed by a public official to remain indoors or avoid travel during a public disaster that prevents the employee from reporting to the work location.
Finally, the amendments eliminate the requirement under the Temporary Schedule Change Law that employers provide employees with two temporary schedule changes each year for a defined “personal event” since employees will have the right to use paid or unpaid safe/sick leave for such a personal event; employers may in their discretion provide a temporary schedule change so that an employee does not need to use safe/sick time.
If you have questions about this New York City law or any laws relating to employer obligations concerning their employees, please do not hesitate to contact us.