Making New York the first state to mandate a standalone entitlement to paid prenatal leave, the governor on April 19, 2024 signed an amendment to New York Labor Law § 196-b (the statewide paid sick and safe leave law) that will require employers to provide up to 20 hours of paid leave in a 52-week period for pregnant employees to attend prenatal medical appointments and procedures. The leave entitlement was included in New York’s final budget for fiscal 2025. This is the first law of its kind in the United States as it provides a separate bank of paid, protected leave for pregnant employees for prenatal care above and beyond existing paid leave entitlements.
New York Becomes the First State to Mandate Paid Prenatal Leave
Littler | Apr 2024
Effective date: 1/1/25
Text of the measure. (Part M of New York’s Final Budget for Fiscal 2025.)
and/or Senate Bill (S) 8305C
Additional Law Firm Articles
The prenatal leave time does not accrue, but instead is available in a single bank and may be taken in hourly increments. Prenatal leave time does not impact or reduce other paid sick time available to an employee under the New York Paid Sick Leave Law.
Enacted New York State Budget Includes First-in-Nation Statewide Paid Prenatal Leave
Proskauer | Apr 2024
To the extent an employee exhausts their paid prenatal leave entitlement, they may use their accrued paid sick leave for preventive healthcare, which includes prenatal care. There is no waiting period for usage or accrual of time for paid prenatal leave.
New York State Budget Includes Enhanced Employer Obligations
Jackson Lewis | Apr 2024
An employee may take prenatal care leave in hourly increments and must be paid in hourly installments. The law is silent as to how exempt employees (who are not paid on an hourly basis) should be compensated for use of prenatal care leave. As such, this is an additional issue that requires input and interpretative guidance from the state.
The Birth of Another Form of Paid Leave: Prenatal Leave for New York-Based Employees
Baker Hostetler | Apr 2024
The twenty hours of paid prenatal personal leave is separate from any qualifying paid sick leave and therefore does not cut into an employee’s existing paid sick time allotment.
New York to Require Paid Prenatal Care Leave
Ogletree | Apr 2024
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