NYC Sick and Safe Time Expands—Again: New Rules for Unpaid and Prenatal Leave

On September 25, 2025, the New York City Council approved Int. 0780-2024-A, a bill to amend the Earned Sick and Safe Time Act (ESSTA). On October 25, this bill was returned unsigned by Mayor Eric Adams. Consequently, the bill’s proposed amendments to the ESSTA are now law, taking effect on February 22, 2026.

The amendments will require covered New York City employers to adjust practices and leave policies in several ways. First, employers will need to grant an additional 32 hours of unpaid leave to new employees upon hire and to all employees at the beginning of each calendar year. Second, employers will need to comply with a broader range of reasons for which employees can take paid time off (PTO) under the ESSTA, thanks to the amendments’ expansion of qualifying uses. Third, the amendments codify rule changes related to the new paid prenatal leave benefit added to the New York State Paid Sick Leave Law earlier this year. Fourth, the amendments have implications for unionized workforces and language in their collective bargaining agreements (CBAs). Finally, the amendments harmonize the ESSTA with another New York City ordinance, the Temporary Schedule Change Law (TSCL).

New Unpaid Leave Entitlements

The most significant change under the ESSTA amendments will require employers to provide employees with a minimum of 32 hours of unpaid safe/sick time immediately available for use upon hire and on the first day of each calendar year. Any unused, unpaid safe/sick time is not subject to ESSTA carryover requirements for paid leave accruals. It is unclear how this new entitlement will interact with an employer’s more expansive PTO policy or sick leave policy.

When an employee requests time off for an ESSTA-covered purpose, they must first be granted the use of accrued, unused paid ESSTA leave (or unpaid leave, if a small employer not subject to paid ESSTA obligations). If ESSTA leave has not yet accrued, or an employee has exhausted their ESSTA leave balance, the employee may then use this unpaid leave balance or other time off under their employer’s policy.

This unpaid leave balance must also be included on an employee’s paystub.

Employees Will Have More Ways to Use ESSTA Leave

The amendments expand the uses for which an employee can use ESSTA leave. Employees who are caregivers may take safe time to care for a minor child or care recipient. The law defines a “caregiver” as a person who provides direct and ongoing care for a minor child or a care recipient. A “care recipient” is defined as a person with a disability who is a family member or person who resides in the caregiver’s household and relies on the caregiver for medical care or to meet the needs of daily living.

Additionally, employees will be able to use safe time to attend a legal proceeding or hearing related to subsistence benefits or housing in which the employee, a family member, or the employee’s care recipient is a party.

The amendments also expand the use of sick leave to permit leave when an employee is prevented from reporting to their work location due to (i) the closure of the employee’s place of work, (ii) a directive from public officials to remain indoors or avoid travel, or (iii) a need to care for a child whose school or childcare provider has closed or restricted in-person operations, during a declared public disaster.

Paid Prenatal Leave

The bill also codifies rule changes promulgated by the New York City Department of Consumer and Worker Protection (DCWP), which took effect earlier this year, that require all New York employers to comply with amendments to New York State’s Paid Sick Leave Law that grant employees at least 20 hours of paid prenatal leave.

As a reminder, the ESSTA contains strong enforcement provisions, including a recently effectuated private right of action. The amendments add the additional entitlement to paid prenatal leave as an explicit basis of enforcement.

Collective Bargaining Waiver

The amendments clarify that in order to claim the CBA exception, the CBA must expressly waive ESSTA provisions, the benefits in the CBA must be superior or comparable to the ESSTA, and both paid and unpaid days off may satisfy all of the new ESSTA requirements. Importantly, however, unpaid time off will not be considered a comparable benefit for purposes of paid safe/sick time or paid prenatal leave obligations.

Additionally, to effectuate a valid waiver of the TSCL under a CBA, the waiver must expressly mention the TSCL, and the CBA must address temporary schedule changes.

Harmonizing Employer Obligations Under the ESSTA and the TSCL

Under the ESSTA amendments, the TSCL is significantly narrowed, as several of its reasons for use are now incorporated into the ESSTA (caregiving obligations, subsistence benefits). For context, as we explained here, the TSCL required employers to grant an employee’s request for a temporary change to the employee’s work schedule—such as using PTO or working remotely—relating to a “personal event” (a term now omitted in the amended TSCL), two times in a calendar year for up to one business day per request. Even after an employee had exhausted those two requests, the TSCL permitted employees to request additional temporary changes to their work schedule, which the employer was free to grant or deny at its discretion.

The amended TSCL no longer requires employers to grant up to two employee requests for temporary changes to their schedule. The TSCL will now allow employees to request a temporary schedule change, which employers must consider but are under no obligation to provide. Employers may also propose an alternative temporary change to what was originally requested. The amendments also remove the requirement that employees have 120 days of employment to be covered by the TSCL.

What New York City Employers Should Do Now

By February 22, 2026, New York City employers should be prepared to comply with the amended ESSTA. Accordingly, covered employers should take the following steps:

• Review all leave-related policies and procedures to ensure compliance with the amended ESSTA, particularly the separate bank of unpaid sick and safe time upon hire and at the beginning of each year.
• If the employer has a TSCL policy, revise it to reflect the narrowed obligations.
• Ensure that human resources personnel are trained and up to date on the amended ESSTA and the TSCL provisions it now incorporates.
• Watch for news about updated guidance from the DCWP.

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For additional information about the issues discussed in this Insight, please contact the attorney(s) listed on this page or the Epstein Becker Green Employment, Labor & Workforce Management attorney who regularly handles your legal matters.

Joseph Ramesar, a Law Clerk – Admission Pending (not admitted to the practice of law) in Epstein Becker Green’s New York office, and Staff Attorney Elizabeth A. Ledkovsky helped prepare this Insight.