New York: New York City’s expanded paid and unpaid sick and safe leave rules now in effect

At a glance

• New York City’s rules implementing expanded employee leave rights under the Earned Safe and Sick Time Act (ESSTA) took effect on July 23, 2026.
• The rules provide further guidance on administering the new annual entitlement of 32 hours of protected unpaid leave and clarify how it interacts with paid leave entitlements.
• Employers must either maintain former employees’ access to electronic leave records for six months after separation or provide a written leave statement shortly after employment ends.
• Employees rehired within the same calendar year must have any unused portion of their protected unpaid leave entitlement reinstated.
• Employers may need to review leave policies, payroll systems, recordkeeping practices, and rehire procedures to ensure compliance with the updated requirements.

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The New York City Department of Consumer and Worker Protection has issued final rules implementing recent amendments to ESSTA, providing employers with further guidance on administering the city’s expanded employee leave entitlements. The rules took effect on July 23, 2026 and introduce several new administrative and recordkeeping requirements.

The amended ESSTA broadened employees’ access to protected time off by (1) introducing additional qualifying reasons for leave, (2) creating a separate annual entitlement of 32 hours of protected unpaid leave that is available from the start of employment with no waiting period, and (3) formalizing paid prenatal leave rights. The final rules largely reflect proposals issued earlier in 2026 but include several additional clarifications and employer obligations.

One key change concerns employee access to leave records after employment ends. Employers that provide leave information through electronic systems must now either maintain former employees’ access to those records for six months following separation or provide a written statement containing the relevant leave information within one week of the employee’s final payday. In practice, this creates a new offboarding requirement for companies that may entail updating their existing human resources and payroll processes.

The rules also address the treatment of employees who leave and later return to the organization. If an employee is rehired during the same calendar year, the employer must restore any unused portion of the employee’s 32-hour protected unpaid leave entitlement rather than provide a new entitlement. This requirement applies alongside existing obligations concerning reinstatement of accrued paid leave under ESSTA.

The rules provide additional guidance on administering the new unpaid leave entitlement. Employers may choose to provide some or all of the 32 hours as paid leave, but doing so does not remove their separate obligation to provide paid protected time off under ESSTA’s existing accrual or frontloading rules. The rules also clarify that when an employee has access to both paid and unpaid protected time off, paid leave must generally be used first unless the employee elects to use the unpaid entitlement.

Employers may need to confirm that their leave policies, payroll systems, recordkeeping practices, and rehire procedures comply with the new requirements.