New York Paid Prenatal Leave Goes Into Effect in 2025

New York employers have been given important guidance on complying with the new paid prenatal leave requirement in New York state, which is effective January 1, 2025.

As described in our previous advisory, all private employers in New York will be required to provide pregnant employees with 20 hours of paid prenatal leave per 52-week period. The statute provides for paid prenatal leave to be used in hourly increments for "physical examinations, medical procedures, monitoring and testing, and discussions with a health care provider related to the pregnancy," including fertility treatments and end-of-pregnancy care appointments. Significantly, the 20 hours of leave is in addition to any paid sick and safe leave to which an employee is entitled.

In anticipation of the effective date, the New York State Department of Labor ("NYSDOL") has released FAQs on the new law (the "FAQs"). Notably, the NYSDOL has provided the following guidance:

• Prenatal healthcare appointments may be covered by NYS Sick Leave, paid prenatal leave, or an existing employer's leave policy. An employer cannot require an employee to choose one leave type over another or require an employee to exhaust one type of leave before using paid prenatal leave. Paid prenatal leave is a stand-alone benefit available to employees seeking prenatal healthcare services.
• All private-sector employees are entitled to paid prenatal leave, regardless of the size of the employer.
• Paid prenatal leave may only be used by the employee directly receiving prenatal healthcare services. Family members or other persons may not use this leave to attend prenatal appointments.
• Paid prenatal leave does not accrue. All employees automatically have 20 hours of paid prenatal leave after January 1, 2025.
• Paid prenatal leave may be used throughout a 52-week period until the 20 hours are exhausted. The first time the employee uses paid prenatal leave begins the 52-week period for that employee.
• Paid prenatal leave does not apply to postnatal or postpartum appointments.
• Employees are not required to submit medical records or documents to their employer regarding paid prenatal leave. Furthermore, employers cannot ask employees for details regarding prenatal appointments or to disclose confidential information about their health conditions as a requirement of requesting to use paid prenatal leave.
• The law does not require recordkeeping of accrued prenatal leave on paystubs, but the NYSDOL states that it is best practice to maintain clear records of available types of leave and amounts of leave for each employee.
• If an employee separates from the employer, then the employer has no obligation to pay the employee for unused paid prenatal leave hours.

While the FAQs encourage employees to give employers advanced notice of leave requests and encourage employers to communicate to their employees how to request leave, they do not mandate a specific notice period or request procedure. Rather, the FAQs instruct employees to request time off by using existing notification and request procedures within their workplaces.

Takeaways

• Employers should carefully review and revise their current leave policies and practices to ensure compliance with this new law before 2025.
• Employers should train managers on the new law so that they may be able to handle requests by employees for prenatal leave.