New York City lawmakers have enacted a comprehensive law to expand several worker protections and clarify employer obligations under the City’s paid safe and sick leave law (known as the Earned Safe and Sick Time Act (ESSTA)). The amendments expand the ways in which employees can use accrued sick/safe time, the amount of time an employee can take, confidentiality standards, and the framework for requesting temporary schedule changes. The law will take effect on February 22, 2026. 

Unpaid sick/safe leave, prenatal leave

In addition to the ESSTA’s accrued paid leave obligations, employers must now provide upon hire and annually thereafter at least 32 hours of immediately available unpaid safe/sick time for scenarios where either paid leave time is unavailable, or the employee explicitly elects to use this unpaid leave bank. Unlike paid leave, the unpaid leave time need not be carried over to the next year. 

The amendments also mandate 20 hours of paid prenatal leave – in addition to the paid and unpaid sick/safe leave time – in any 52-week period, codifying a New York State law requirement and following earlier rulemaking from the Department of Consumer and Worker Protection. 

Expanded permissible uses and documentation

The law expands sick time uses for employees to include public disasters that trigger for business closures, school or childcare closures, and directives to remain indoors that prevent reporting to work. The law also broadens safe time uses to cover workplace violence; care for a minor child or care recipient; and preparation for or attendance at proceedings concerning subsistence benefits or housing.

Notice, pay-period reporting, and confidentiality

Employers must provide written notice of these additional rights in English and the employee’s primary language. They must also conspicuously post these new requirements and provide the available balances for the regular accrual bank, the extra 32 hours of unpaid time, and – if applicable – prenatal leave time. New York City’s Department of Consumer and Worker Protection will make available notices that contain the new requirements. Willful notice violations carry a civil penalty of up to $50 per affected employee.

The law also strengthens confidentiality by prohibiting employers from requiring employees to disclose the underlying reasons for leave and banning employer disclosure of employee personal safety information unless the employee consents or the law requires such reporting.

Alignment with temporary schedule changes

Under the law, the requirement to provide employees with up to two temporary schedule changes per year under the City’s Temporary Schedule Change Act (TSCA) will be eliminated. Instead, events previously covered by the TSCA will now be included as permissible reasons for safe/sick leave, as noted above. Although employees may still request a temporary schedule change, employers will no longer be required to grant them. Employees will remain protected from retaliation for making such requests.

Conclusion

Ahead of the effective date, employers should review and update their safe and sick time policies to reflect the new requirements. Employers should also monitor for an updated sample Notice of Employee Rights from New York City, which must be distributed to employees.