Update 10/9/2026: New York City’s Department of Consumer and Worker Protection (DCWP) has issued final rules implementing the Earned Safe and Sick Time Act (ESSTA), effective July 23, 2026. The rules largely follow the original proposal but provide added guidance for employers on expanded leave requirements and new compliance obligations.

New York City continues to expand employer obligations under ESSTA. The latest amendments rename the safe and sick leave law as protected time off, introduce a new written policy standard, update requirements for electronic pay statement systems, and add closer scrutiny of how employers track and enforce attendance. This article explains what changed, what it means for written policies and employee notices, and the steps employers should take to stay compliant.

Updated 3/16/2026: The New York City Department of Consumer and Worker Protection (DCWP) issued updated FAQs and other guidance clarifying the new protections and requirements. At the same time, the NYC Mayor announced renewed enforcement efforts targeting employers that fail to comply with worker protection laws. This article has been updated to reflect the new guidance and enforcement efforts.

Starting February 22, 2026, new legislation enacted by the New York City Council expands New York City’s Safe and Sick Time Act (ESSTA). New amendments will broaden the covered reasons employees can take safe and sick leave, will require employers to provide 32 hours of unpaid safe and sick time to covered employees and formally incorporates the previously expanded 20 hours of employer-paid prenatal leave for eligible employees. The DCWP refers to the ESSTA as the “Protected Time Off Law” and uses the term protected time off instead of the previously used safe and sick leave/time, although the statute still uses safe and sick time.

Current Law

NYC ESSTA requires employers to provide employees who work in the City with paid or unpaid safe and sick leave. NYC provides Frequently Asked Questions on the ESSTA website that explains the regulations in more detail.

Employers must comply with ESSTA regulations if an employee performs work, including remote work while the employee is physically located in New York City, regardless of where the employer is located. Employees with a primary work location outside of New York City are considered “employed for hire within the City of New York” if they regularly perform, or are expected to regularly perform, work in New York City during a calendar year. For these employees, only hours worked within New York City must count toward the accrual of protected time off.

NYC’s Paid Safe and Sick Leave Law currently requires employers to:

  • Provide employees with the latest written version of the Notice of Employee Rights to all current employees and post the Notice in the workplace in an area that is visible and accessible.
  • Provide employees written protected time off policy that specifically explains the 32 hours of unpaid leave and the separate bank of 20 hours of paid prenatal leave while also including previous requirements under ESSTA.
  • Allow employees to use safe and sick leave as it is accrued, with no waiting period for new hires.
  • Only require documentation when employees use more than three workdays in a row of leave. Note that any documentation requirements must be explained in the employer’s written policy.
  • Inform employees of their accrued, used, and total safe and sick leave balances on a paystub or through an employee-accessible electronic system. Note that paid prenatal leave balances may be provided in separate documentation.

ESSTA Changes

Starting February 22, 2026, employees will be able to use safe/sick leave for additional reasons, including:

  • Closure of workplace, school or childcare center by order of a public official due to a public disaster (defined to include events such as a fire, terrorist attack, or severe weather conditions);
  • Where a public official directs people to remain indoors or avoid travel during a public disaster; 
  • Where an employee or their covered family member has been the victim of workplace violence (defined as any act or threat of violence against an employee that occurs in a place of employment); 
  • Absences for employees acting as caregivers to provide care to a minor child or a care recipient (This includes for school holidays, day care closures and babysitter cancellations); and/or 
  • Absences for attending or preparing for legal proceedings related to subsistence benefits or housing, or taking actions necessary to apply for, maintain, or restore such benefits for themselves, a family member, or a care recipient. 
  • When both paid and unpaid protected time off is available, employers should apply paid time off to absences first unless the employee specifically requests unpaid time.
  • If a former employee is rehired within the same calendar year, their previous unpaid protected time off balance must be reinstated along with their paid leave balance.

Employers must maintain a single written protected time off policy and provide it to employees at hire, within 14 days of any changes, and upon request. The policy should detail the following:

  • How protected time off is provided, whether through frontloading or accrual;
  • Must state that 32 hours of unpaid protected time off is immediately available each year along with 20 hours of paid prenatal leave;
    • The policy should explicitly state that accrued paid time off must be used before unpaid time is applied, unless instructed otherwise by the employee;
  • Must describe the employer’s rules for notice, documentation, minimum increments, misuse, and carryover, and it cannot limit protected time off in a way that conflicts with the law.

Supplementary Unpaid Leave 

Starting on February 22, 2026, employers must provide all employees and new hires with an additional 32 hours of unpaid sick/safe time. Any unused, unpaid sick/safe time will not carry over into the following calendar year. Significantly, the unpaid leave would not be used until an employee has exhausted any accrued but unused paid sick/safe time. This leave is available immediately upon hire and at the start of each calendar year with no waiting period for use. The 32 hour bank of unpaid protected time off cannot be prorated for part-time employees hired mid-year.

Alternatively, employers can provide 32 hours of paid leave if the entire balance is immediately available for use upon hire and resets each calendar year.

Note that this 32-hour bank is separate from, and works differently than, the standard accrued safe/sick leave bank. The accrued bank allows employees to carry over up to 40 hours (for employers with fewer than 100 employees) or up to 56 hours (for employers with 100 or more employees) into the following year, while the 32-hour supplementary bank does not carry over at all and resets each full calendar year. Employers should make sure these two banks are tracked separately in payroll and leave management systems.

Paid Prenatal Leave

The expansion of these regulations comes on the heels of the City’s amendment to ESSTA regulations that require employers to provide 20 hours of paid prenatal leave to eligible employees. This change now formally incorporates employer-paid prenatal leave into City law, whereas before, this leave only existed in City regulations and guidance. For more on NYC paid prenatal leave, see our blog. Updated guidance confirms that Paid Prenatal leave must be provided as a separate bank and cannot be satisfied by more generous sick leave or PTO policies.

Leave Increments

Employers may impose a minimum usage increment of up to four hours per day and must separately track and report both paid and unpaid time balances to comply with ESSTA’s notice and recordkeeping requirements. Note that Paid Prenatal leave allows a minimum usage of one-hour increments for eligible employees.

Pay Statements and Electronic Systems

Employers using an electronic system to communicate leave balances must alert employees each pay period that this information is available and ensure the system remains accessible outside the workplace. Employers should also maintain access to prior pay period information for the duration of an employee’s employment.

When an employee’s employment ends, employers using an electronic system must either continue the former employee’s access for six months following separation or provide a written statement of the employee’s final accrual, use and balance information no later than one week after the employee’s last payday.

Enforcement and Penalties

The NYC Mayor’s office announced a new enforcement strategy and increased penalties for violations of ESSTA. Under the new strategy, the DCWP can request an employer to provide records that show their employees’ use of leave. The DCWP will then compare employees’ use of leave to national benchmarks of expected sick leave usage. If employer records show unusually low use rates, the DCWP will treat this as strong evidence that protected time off is being restricted and may pursue enforcement on behalf of all affected employees. Common violations that may lead to low use rates include:

  • failing to offer protected time off;
  • insufficient written policies;
  • unlawful restrictions on use; or
  • absence control policies that discipline workers for last-minute callouts. 

Employers should review their attendance and discipline policies to make sure current “call-out” rules do not count protected time off against employees. Punishing employees for using protected time off could violate the rules and may draw DCWP enforcement attention. Employers that fail to offer compliant protected time off face potential damages of $500 per year for each affected employee, plus an equal amount in civil penalties. Violations related to prohibited retaliation may increase civil penalties to $1,000 per employee per year.

Employer Action Items

Employers in New York City or with employees working in New York City should take the following steps to comply:

  • Review and update safe/sick time policies to reflect the new requirements, ensuring the written protected time off policy is a single, comprehensive document that addresses:
    • Accruals,
    • 32-hour immediately available protected time off bank (and whether it is paid or unpaid)
    • Paid prenatal leave
    • All covered leave uses
    • Rules requiring accrued paid time to be used before unpaid time is applied, details regarding carryover of unused time, required employee documentation, and minimum increments of time that can be taken.
  • Provide the policy to employees within 14 days of implementation, at the time of hire, and upon employee request going forward.
  • Inform employees of their accrued, used, and total safe and sick leave balances on a paystub or through an employee-accessible electronic system. Paid prenatal leave use and balance information may be provided in separate documentation.  If using an electronic system, confirm it alerts employees each pay period that this information is available and remains accessible outside of the workplace.
  • Determine a method for leave balance reporting upon a separation/termination of employment. Employers using an electronic system must either maintain the former employee’s access for six months after separation or provide a written statement of final accrual, use, and balance information no later than one week after the employee’s last pay day.
  • Audit attendance and disciplinary policies, including call-out policies, to confirm protected absences are excluded from any attendance tracking or discipline, reducing exposure under DCWP’s new benchmark-based enforcement approach.
  • For employers involved in mergers, acquisitions, or other business sale transactions, confirm protected time off balances are properly transferred to the successor employer when employees continue performing work in New York City.
  • Train HR personnel and managers involved in administering safe/sick leave to ensure they fully understand these changes. Including the distinction between the 32-hour immediately available bank and the separate 40/56-hour accrued bank, each of which has different carryover rules. 
  • Provide all employees with the updated Notice of Employee Rights by 3/24/2026.

Additional Resources

Connect with a Sequoia consultant to learn how Sequoia’s compliance services are integrated in our benefits services and tailored solutions. And if you’re already a Sequoia client, stay on top of your employer obligations with your Compliance Checklist that highlights important compliance dates, action items, and resources.

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Séamus McGuire

Séamus McGuire

Séamus is a Compliance Specialist for Sequoia, where he works with our clients to optimize and streamline benefits compliance. In his free time, Séamus enjoys riding rollercoasters, attending Broadway shows and traveling with his husband.