In April 2024, Governor Kathy Hochul signed the paid prenatal leave law. It updated New York’s paid sick leave law.
Paid prenatal leave becomes effective January 1, 2025, which is just a few short weeks away. We previously blogged about the new law when it was first signed, but it’s important to ensure you’re preparing now.
Paid Prenatal Leave Employer Obligations
Within any given 52-week period, New York employers of any size must provide your employees with 20 hours of paid prenatal personal leave. This 20-hour requirement applies to all private employers and has no minimum employee threshold.
That’s right, if your business has even one employee, that employee now will be entitled to 20 hours of paid prenatal personal leave annually. It also applies regardless of whether the employee works full-time or part-time.
Prenatal personal leave is defined under the law as
“leave taken for the health care services received by an employee during their pregnancy or related to such pregnancy, including physical examinations, medical procedures, monitoring and testing, and discussions with a health care provider related to the pregnancy.”
In a recent release, the Governor stated this law includes fertility treatment and post-natal or postpartum appointments as well.
Further, when your employee uses any of the 20 paid hours for this kind of leave, you must pay her regular rate of pay which – obviously – must be at least minimum wage. Stated differently, whenever an employee still has hours left in her annual 20-hour prenatal leave bank, you can’t refuse to let her use the leave and must pay her for the time off.
You also can’t ask employees to disclose confidential information about their health condition as a condition of their using paid prenatal leave.
It’s important to note this prenatal leave is in addition to the existing paid sick leave hours that employees also receive under New York law. You won’t be able to avoid providing prenatal personal leave simply because the employee has other sick leave that could be used instead.
What’s Next?
First and foremost, ensure your leave policies reflect the change in the law. You don’t want to put yourself at risk by not informing employees of their ability to use this benefit.
While the law doesn’t specifically require you to keep a running record of an employee’s use of paid prenatal leave separately on pay stubs or in leave accrual banks, it’s a best practice to maintain a clear record of the available types of leaves and how they’re used by each employee. So, ensure your payroll company is aware of prenatal leave as a component of compensation to avoid any issues when employees attempt to use paid prenatal leave.
Also ensure your managers and supervisors know about this new kind of leave. You don’t want to risk their rejecting a request and getting cited for pregnancy discrimination. This is a risk you can avoid with a little bit of preparation.
New York’s Department of Labor hasn’t yet drafted any regulations that explain the new law. However, the State has created a Frequently Asked Questions for both employees and employers on its website.
What to Do Immediately To Avoid Risk
- By January 1, 2025, add a paid prenatal leave policy to your workplace policies and/or handbook.
- Inform employees, including managers and supervisors, about the new leave law so they’re informed.
- Keep records about the use of paid prenatal leave by employees. After all, you should keep track!
- Contact The Coppola Firm with any questions about this State mandate or any other challenge under New York or federal employment laws.
Happy Holidays and Happy New Year!
