Upcoming Changes to New York City Safe and Sick Leave & Scheduling Laws

ESSTA Background

Under the ESSTA, all employees working in New York City (NYC) earn one hour of ESSTA leave for every 30 hours worked. Employees working in NYC are covered under the ESSTA, and include all full-time, part-time, temporary, and seasonal employees, as well as domestic workers, regardless of immigration status. Additionally, employees who perform work, including by telecommuting/working remotely, while physically located in New York City are covered by the ESSTA, even if their employer is physically located outside of NYC. Independent contractors are not covered under the ESSTA.

Private, nonprofit, and household employers with employees in New York City must provide ESSTA leave. See the table below for required ESSTA leave amounts per calendar year (generally any consecutive 12-month period, as determined by the employer):

* Employer's total number of employees nationwide is counted when determining employer size.

ESSTA Covered Reasons

Employees can use ESSTA sick leave for:

• A mental or physical illness, injury, or health condition, including obtaining a medical diagnosis, care, or treatment of a mental or physical illness, injury, or health condition, or obtaining preventive medical care.
• Care for a family member (defined below) to obtain medical diagnosis, care, or treatment of a mental or physical illness, injury, or health condition, or obtain preventive medical care.
• Their employer’s business closure due to a public health emergency, or care for a child whose school or child care provider is closed due to a public health emergency.

Employees can use ESSTA safe leave if they or a family member (defined below) were the victim of any act or threat of domestic violence, unwanted sexual contact, stalking, or human trafficking, and they need to:

• obtain services from a domestic violence shelter, rape crisis center, or other services program;
• participate in safety planning, relocate, or take other actions to protect the employee’s safety or that of the employee’s family members, including enrolling children in a new school;
• meet with an attorney or social service provider to obtain information and advice related to a criminal or civil case, including custody, visitation, child support, divorce, orders of protection, immigration, housing, or discrimination;
• file a domestic incident report with law enforcement or meet with a district attorney’s office;
• attend civil or criminal court dates related to any act or threat of domestic violence, unwanted sexual contact, stalking, or human trafficking; or
• take other actions necessary for the health or safety of themselves or family members, or to protect those who associate or work with the employee.

Click here for an ESSTA FAQs webpage with detailed information to review in depth.

ESSTA Amendments

Additional 32 Hours of Unpaid Safe and Sick Time

In addition to the leave amounts currently available under the ESSTA outlined above, employers will be required to provide all employees with a minimum of 32 hours of unpaid sick and safe time immediately upon hire and on the first day of each calendar year, starting on February 22, 2026.

Similar to the ESSTA, there is no waiting period for employees to use this separate, unpaid 32-hour bank of sick and safe time. However, unlike the ESSTA, employers are not required to allow employees to carry over any unused unpaid sick and safe time into the following calendar year.

If an employee needs time off for an ESSTA-qualifying reason, the employer must first allow them to use their accrued, unused paid ESSTA leave. However, employers are not required to allow use of paid ESSTA leave if unavailable, or if the employee requests to use other leave.

Additional Covered Reasons for ESSTA Leave

In addition to the current ESSTA leave covered reasons outlined above, employees will be allowed to take ESSTA time (both paid and unpaid) for the following additional reasons starting February 22, 2026:

• The closure of their workplace by a public official due to a declared public disaster
• The closure of, or a limited in-person operations of, their child’s school or childcare provider by a public official due to a public disaster
• A directive from a public official to remain indoors or avoid travel due to a public disaster which prevents them from reporting to their work location
• For certain reasons related to obtaining certain services when the employee or their family member is a victim of workplace violence
• To care for their minor child or “care recipient” (a person with a disability who is a family or household member and relies on the employee for medical care or to meet the needs of daily living)
• To attend or prepare for legal proceedings related to their own, their family member’s, or their care recipient’s subsistence benefits or housing, or taking actions necessary to obtain housing or benefits.

Impact to the NYC Temporary Schedule Change Act

The NYC Temporary Schedule Change Act (TSCA) requires employers to accommodate a "temporary change" to the work schedule two times within a calendar year relating to an employee’s "personal event" (both terms defined directly below).

These recent amendments align the TSCA with the ESSTA in that the new bank of unpaid sick and safe time replaces the two days that are currently provided by the TSCA.

Beginning February 22, 2026, employees may still request temporary changes to their work schedule under the TSCA, but employers are not required to grant the requests. Employers must respond to an employee’s temporary schedule change request "as soon as practicable" and may propose an alternative; however, employees are not required to accept the employer’s proposed alternative.

Click here for the TSCA webpage for employers with additional guidance and resources.

Codifying Paid Prenatal Leave into the ESSTA

The ESSTA amendments also incorporate the New York State paid prenatal leave law into local law by codifying the requirement for employers to provide 20 hours of paid prenatal leave during any 52-week calendar period, in accordance with NYC Council rules issued earlier in the year. Click here for a Risk Strategies article detailing these earlier rules with respect to NYC paid prenatal leave.

NYC paid prenatal leave is time off work that covered employees can use for health care during their pregnancy or related to their pregnancy, including physical examinations, medical procedures, monitoring, testing, end-of-pregnancy care, and fertility treatment. Employers must provide a separate 20-hour bank of NYC paid prenatal leave per 52-week period in addition to ESSTA leave per calendar year.

Employer Next Steps

Employers with employees working in NYC are advised to take the steps outlined below, in consultation with their leave advisors/consultants and employment/labor counsel, before the February 22, 2026 effective date of these recent ESSTA changes:

• Review and update leave policies/handbooks, procedures, and practices, as necessary.
  • Reminder: The ESSTA requires employers to provide employees with a written ESSTA and paid prenatal leave policy explaining the leave benefits and how to use them.
• Review and update attendance and payroll systems for required tracking purposes, as necessary.
  • Reminder: The ESSTA requires employers to inform employees of their accrued, used, and total ESSTA balances (including the new 32-hour bank of unpaid sick and safe leave) on a paystub or through an employee-accessible electronic system. Paid prenatal leave use and balance information may be provided on employees' paystubs or in separate written documentation.
• Train Human Resources team members and other supervisory employees who manage NYC-based employee leaves regarding these upcoming ESSTA and TSCA changes.
• Monitor the NYC Department of Consumer and Worker Protection webpages for both the ESSTA here and the TSCA here for updated guidance and model notices/forms (for posting and distribution) when available.

Risk Strategies helps employers navigate the continually evolving and complex state and local paid leave landscape. Contact us directly here.