At a glance
- A number of laws will take effect in 2025 for employers in New York and New York City.
- Family-friendly developments include paid prenatal leave and lactation accommodation laws.
- Health and safety measures cover work-related stress and workplace violence as well as physical injury risks.
A number of laws will take effect in 2025 for employers in New York and New York City, including:
| New York State | ||
| Effective Date | Topic | Description |
| January 1, 2025 | Paid prenatal leave law (NY Labor Law) | Requires employers to provide pregnant employees with 20 hours of paid prenatal leave per year. For more information, see our previous alert. |
| January 1, 2025 | Coverage for mental health injuries (SB 6635) | Allows an employee to file a workers’ compensation claim for mental health injuries based on extraordinary work-related stress incurred at work. |
| March 1, 2025 | Retail Worker Health and Safety Act (SB 8358) | Requires retail employers with ten or more employees to adopt the Department of Labor’s forthcoming model retail workplace violence prevention policy and training (or equivalent policy and training) and provide notice to all employees of the retail workplace violence prevention training program at every annual training. Effective date may be delayed. |
| June 1, 2025 | Fashion Workers Act (SB 9832) | Imposes various requirements on model management companies and clients in relation to modeling services. For more information, see our previous alert. |
| June 1, 2025 | Warehouse Worker Injury Reduction Program (SB 5081C) | Requires certain warehouse employers in New York to prepare and implement formal injury reduction programs that identify and minimize the risks of musculoskeletal injuries and disorders. |
| July 31, 2025 | COVID-19 leave (SB 8358) | Sunsets New York State law requiring employers to provide separate paid COVID-19 leave to employees subject to a mandatory or precautionary order of isolation or quarantine due to COVID-19. |
| New York City | ||
| May 11, 2025 | Amendments to 2018 Lactation Accommodation Law | Amends NYC’s lactation leave law to incorporate the NYS law requirement to provide 30-minute paid breaks and to add additional notice requirements. |
Employers are also monitoring for proposed legislation. For example, during her 2025 State of the State Address, New York Governor Kathy Hochul announced a plan to support workers displaced by Artificial Intelligence (AI) by requiring employers who engage in mass layoffs or closings subject to New York’s state Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification law to disclose whether AI automation played a role in the layoffs.
We will continue to update you on new developments. In the meantime, please reach out to the authors or your usual DLA Piper attorney if you have any questions.
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