Recent amendments to New York City’s Earned Sick and Safe Time Act (ESSTA) went into effect this month. Consistent with recent amendments to New York State law (which we discussed here and here), the City’s amended leave law now explicitly requires NYC employers to provide up to 20 hours of paid prenatal leave for eligible employees within a 52-week period and seeks to integrate related paid prenatal leave obligations into the existing ESSTA compliance framework for safe/sick time. The amendments also clarify the available penalties, remedies, and enforcement mechanisms for violations of the paid prenatal leave requirements.
We summarize below the new obligations NYC employers have under the amended ESSTA.
Paid prenatal leave, which is now required under both New York State and New York City law, is paid time off that eligible employees can use for health care purposes during pregnancy or related to such pregnancy. Employees may use such leave for their own prenatal-related purposes, including prenatal physical examination and medical procedures, pregnancy monitoring and testing, fertility treatments, and end of pregnancy care. Spouses, partners, and other individuals aside from the pregnant employee are not entitled to use paid prenatal leave.
Importantly, employers must provide paid prenatal leave in addition to any regular sick and safe leave time employees are otherwise eligible to use.
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