New York City Expands Earned Safe and Sick Time Act with Unpaid Leave, Prenatal Leave, and Broader Protections

What Changed

The New York City Council passed significant amendments to the Earned Safe and Sick Time Act (ESSTA), enacted into law on October 25, 2025, with an effective date of February 22, 2026. These amendments introduce several major changes:

New Unpaid Leave Bank: All NYC employers must now provide employees with a separate bank of at least 32 hours of unpaid safe and sick time per year. This leave must be front-loaded and available immediately upon hire and refreshed at the beginning of each calendar year. There is no waiting period or accrual requirement for this unpaid leave.

Paid Prenatal Leave: The amendments codify New York State's paid prenatal leave requirements into NYC law, requiring employers to provide eligible employees with 20 hours of paid prenatal leave during any 52-week calendar period.

Expanded Leave Reasons: Employees may now use safe and sick time for additional reasons, including:

When the employee or a family member is a victim of workplace violence
When the employee is a caregiver providing care to a minor child or care recipient
To care for a child whose school or childcare provider has been closed due to a public disaster
To attend or prepare for legal proceedings related to subsistence benefits or housing

Temporary Schedule Change Act (TSCA) Modifications: The amended TSCA no longer requires employers to grant up to two temporary schedule change requests per year. Employers must now consider requests but are under no obligation to approve them.

Usage Priority Rules: When an employee requests time off for an ESSTA-covered reason, employers must apply available paid leave before unpaid leave, unless the employee specifically requests to use unpaid leave first.

Who Is Affected

These amendments apply to all employers operating within New York City, regardless of size. The unpaid leave requirement applies universally, while the existing paid leave tiers remain in place:

Employers with 100+ employees: Must provide up to 56 hours of paid safe and sick time, plus the new 32 hours of unpaid time
Employers with 5-99 employees: Must provide up to 40 hours of paid safe and sick time, plus the new 32 hours of unpaid time
Employers with 1-4 employees: Must provide up to 40 hours of unpaid safe and sick time (existing requirement continues)

The prenatal leave provision applies to all employers with employees covered under the New York State prenatal leave law. All employee categories are covered, including full-time, part-time, and temporary workers performing work in New York City.

Where It Applies

These amendments apply to New York City specifically. This is a local ordinance, not a statewide law, though the prenatal leave component aligns with a statewide requirement. The law applies to employees who perform work within New York City, regardless of where the employer is headquartered.

Employers with operations in NYC and other parts of New York State should note that the state-level requirements differ from the city-level ESSTA amendments. The NYC provisions are additive and generally more expansive than state requirements.

When It Takes Effect

The amendments take effect on February 22, 2026. Key dates:

October 25, 2025: Amendments enacted into law by the NYC Council
February 22, 2026: Effective date for all provisions, including unpaid leave, prenatal leave, expanded leave reasons, and TSCA modifications
March 2, 2026: Public hearing on proposed implementing rules by the NYC Department of Consumer and Worker Protection (DCWP)

The NYC DCWP has released updated guidance and a revised Notice of Employee Rights that employers must distribute. Employers should be fully compliant by the February 22 effective date.

Why It Matters

These amendments represent a substantial expansion of employee leave rights in New York City and create meaningful new compliance obligations for employers:

Administrative Complexity: The requirement to maintain a separate bank of 32 hours of unpaid leave, distinct from existing paid leave balances, adds a new layer of leave tracking and administration. Employers must implement systems to manage usage priority rules and ensure proper sequencing of paid and unpaid leave.

Policy Overhaul Required: Most NYC employer leave policies will need revision to incorporate the unpaid leave bank, prenatal leave provisions, and expanded leave reasons. Employee handbooks, onboarding materials, and leave request forms all require updates.

Enforcement Risk: The NYC DCWP has proposed amendments to its penalty structure as part of the implementing rules. Non-compliance with ESSTA has historically resulted in significant penalties, and the expanded law increases the surface area for potential violations.

Trend Context: NYC continues to lead the nation in expanding employee leave protections. These amendments build on a pattern of increasingly robust worker protections that other jurisdictions may follow.

The Humareso Take

This is one of the most significant leave law changes we've seen for NYC employers heading into 2026. The separate unpaid leave bank is a real operational challenge -- it's not just "more leave time," it's an entirely new tracking requirement that sits alongside your existing paid leave obligations. Combined with the prenatal leave codification and expanded leave reasons, most NYC employer handbooks are going to need meaningful revisions, not just a quick update. If you have clients with NYC-based employees, this should be near the top of your February compliance checklist. Reach out to your Humareso team now so we can help you get ahead of the February 22 deadline.

Recommended Action Steps

Review and revise your employee leave policies to incorporate the new 32-hour unpaid safe and sick time bank, ensuring it is treated as a separate entitlement from existing paid leave.
Update your employee handbook to reflect all ESSTA amendments, including expanded leave reasons (workplace violence, caregiver leave, public disaster childcare closures, and legal proceedings for subsistence benefits).
Implement prenatal leave tracking to provide eligible employees with 20 hours of paid prenatal leave per 52-week period, consistent with the NYC codification of the state requirement.
Update leave tracking systems to manage the usage priority rules requiring paid leave to be applied before unpaid leave, unless the employee requests otherwise.
Distribute the updated Notice of Employee Rights issued by the NYC DCWP to all current employees and incorporate it into your onboarding process for new hires.
Train managers and HR staff on the expanded leave reasons, the new unpaid leave bank, and the modified Temporary Schedule Change Act requirements before the February 22, 2026 effective date.
Contact your Humareso representative for a compliance review of your NYC leave policies to ensure full compliance ahead of the deadline.