New York City Issues Proposed Rules on Earned Safe and Sick Time Act Amendments

Employers with questions on the recent amendments to the NYC Earned Safe and Sick Time Act ("ESSTA"), which include 32 hours of unpaid sick leave, have received several answers from recent proposed rules by The New York City Department of Consumer and Worker Protection ("DCWP").

As described in our previous advisories, the amended Law will:

• Provide additional reasons for the use of ESSTA leave such as (1) closure of the workplace, school, or childcare center by order of a public official due to a public disaster; (2) where a public official directs people to remain indoors or avoid travel during a public disaster; (3) absences for employees acting as caregivers to provide care to a minor child or a care recipient; (4) absences for attending or preparing for legal proceedings related to subsistence benefits or housing; and (5) situations where an employee or their covered family member has been the victim of workplace violence.
• Require employers to provide employees with an additional 32 hours of unpaid sick/safe time upon hire and on the first day of each calendar year.
• Consolidate ESSTA coverage with an employee's rights under the NYC Temporary Schedule Change Act ("TSCA"). Since leave for "personal events" is now covered under ESSTA, the TSCA will be eliminated.
• Provide a statutory entitlement to paid prenatal leave as an element of ESSTA, which provides 20 hours of leave in addition to the paid sick and safe time to which an employee is already entitled.

As the effective date approaches, the DCWP's proposed rules provide guidance and clarity on the amendments. The proposed rules note, in relevant part, that:

• Employers must ensure their written policies explicitly address the 32-hour allotment of unpaid protected time off, indicating that this benefit is available to employees immediately upon hire and again on the first day off in each calendar year. If an employer offers paid protected time off that exceeds the requirements of ESSTA (which mandates 40 or 56 hours depending on employer size) this paid time may be used to satisfy the unpaid protected time off obligation, provided it is also available upon hire and at the start of each calendar year;
• Employee pay statements must communicate the amount of protected time off accrued and used during each pay period, distinguishing between paid and unpaid time. Pay statements should also reflect the total available balances for both paid and unpaid protected time off; and
• Existing references to "safe/sick time" throughout the rules are renamed to "protected time off," which will have the same meaning as "safe/sick time."

The DCWP is now seeking feedback on the proposed rules. The public will have until March 2, 2026, to offer its comments. New York City employers should be ready to comply with the amended Law by February 22, 2026, however, and:

• Review and update their leave policies to reflect the new requirements, particularly the separate bank of unpaid sick and safe time.
• Remove any policies related to the TSCA.
• Train managers on the new law so that they may be able to handle requests by employees for leave.

Please feel free to contact a member of DWT's employment services group if you have any questions about how this may impact your company.