NYC Employers: Prenatal Leave Rules Have Been Updated.
The NYC Department of Consumer and Worker Protection recently updated its rules under the Earned Safe and Sick Time Act to align with New York State’s Paid Prenatal Leave Law, which took effect earlier this year.
While this isn’t a new category of leave, it does mean NYC employers now have additional responsibilities when it comes to administering paid prenatal time off.
To recap: under state law, employees are entitled to up to 20 hours of paid prenatal leave per year for healthcare services related to pregnancy. With the updated NYC rules, employers should now:
• Provide regular updates to employees, each pay period, how many prenatal leave hours they’ve used and what’s remaining. This can be included on the pay stub or provided separately.
• Maintain clear records – Document the dates, hours used, and payments made for any prenatal leave taken.
• Share updated policies and distribute your prenatal leave policy at onboarding, when changes are made (within 14 days), and upon request.
• The NYC “Notice of Employee Rights” now includes paid prenatal leave so you'll want to use the current version.
This is a good opportunity to check that your leave policies and systems are aligned with both state and city requirements.
