On February 19, 2026, the New York City Department of Consumer and Worker Protection (DCWP) issued an updated set of Frequently Asked Questions, as well as an updated Notice of Employee Rights that must be distributed to employees regularly working in New York City. These updates address the new unpaid sick leave and new covered uses for sick leave that took effect on February 22, 2026, pursuant to amendments to the New York City Earned Safe and Sick Time Act.

The updated FAQs track some of the newly proposed rules issued by the DCWP, which the public may comment on during a scheduled March 2, 2026 public hearing. Importantly, several questions that were initially unanswered have been addressed, including:

• Whether part-time employees and/or mid-year hires must be provided the full 32 hours of unpaid sick leave at the beginning of the year (They must).
• Whether employers can provide 32 hours of additional paid sick leave in lieu of providing unpaid sick leave (They may, provided the 32 hours of paid leave are immediately available for use on employees’ first day of employment and on the first day of each calendar year).
• When employees can use protected time “to provide care to [a] minor child or care recipient” (It includes school holidays, day care closures, and babysitter cancellations).
• In what increments of time unpaid sick leave may be taken (The same as paid sick leave, i.e., a maximum four-hour initial increment, provided it is reasonable under the circumstances, and...

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