On September 25, 2025, the New York City Council passed Int. No. 780-A, amending both the Earned Sick and Safe Time Act (ESSTA) (Sections 20-912 et seq. of the N.Y.C. Administrative Code), governing the provision of paid safe and sick leave, and the Temporary Schedule Change Act (Sections 20-1261 et seq. of the N.Y.C. Administrative Code), governing temporary schedule changes. The law was enacted on October 25, 2025, and will become effective 120 days thereafter, on February 22, 2026.

ESSTA amendments

Effective February 22, 2026, New York City employers must revise their paid safe and sick leave policies to reflect the new law’s expansion of ESSTA in several respects.

Expanded safe/sick leave purposes

The amendments broaden the permissible uses of safe and sick leave as detailed below.

Sick leave

Employees may now use sick leave for an absence from work in the event an employee’s place of business is closed by order of a public official due to a public disaster or if the employee needs to care for a child whose school has restricted in-person operations by order of a public official due to a public health emergency or public disaster. N.Y.C. Admin. Code Section 20-914(a)(1)(c). This provision was previously limited to public health emergencies and school closures; it did not account for public disasters or restricted in-person operations at the employee’s child’s school.

• A “public disaster” is defined as “an event such as fire, explosion, terrorist attack, severe weather...

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