Employment law in New York evolves quickly. Company handbooks and other policies must be reviewed frequently to ensure they remain up to date. For employers with employees in New York City, another update will soon be required. New York City has adopted amendments to the Earned Safe and Sick Time Act (“ESSTA”) and the Temporary Schedule Change Law, effective February 22, 2026. These amendments clarify existing obligations, create a new category of unpaid leave, and expand permissible uses of sick and safe time. Employers with NYC-based employees must review their handbook policies and internal procedures to ensure they reflect the revised requirements before the effective date.
Incorporation of Paid Prenatal Leave
Effective January 2025, New York State mandated Paid Prenatal Leave. The amended ESSTA now formally incorporates the statewide mandate into NYC’s local framework. The law requires employers to provide employees with up to 20 hours of paid prenatal leave during any 52-week period. Paid prenatal leave may be used in one-hour increments for healthcare service appointments during pregnancy. This entitlement is separate from, and in addition to, existing paid sick and safe time.
Additional Unpaid Leave
In addition to ESSTA’s requirement for paid sick and safe time, the amended ESSTA has created a new category of unpaid leave. Employers must provide employees, upon hire and on the first day of each calendar year, with a minimum of 32 hours of unpaid sick/safe time that is immediately available for use. Unlike paid sick/safe time, unused unpaid time does not carry over to the following year.
Employees cannot be forced to use unpaid time if they have paid sick/safe time available. If an employee communicates a need for time off for a purpose covered by the ESSTA, the employer must provide paid sick/safe time unless the employee has no paid time available or the employee specifically requests to use other leave.
Additional Uses of Sick and Safe Time
The amendments also broaden the situations in which sick and safe time may be used. Employees may use sick time when their workplace is closed due to a public health emergency or public disaster, when their child’s school or childcare provider is closed or restricted for those reasons, or when a public official directs individuals to remain indoors or avoid travel, preventing the employee from reporting to work. Safe time coverage has also been expanded, allowing employees to use safe time to provide care to a minor child or care recipient, to take steps related to legal proceedings involving subsistence benefits or housing, or to apply for or maintain such benefits or shelter.
The law further expands the types of documentation an employer must accept when verification of the need for safe time is permitted. Employees may now submit documentation from a legal services provider, social services provider, court or government agency, or a school or childcare provider, in addition to traditional medical or professional sources.
Temporary Schedule Change Law
NYC has also amended the Temporary Schedule Change Law. Previously, the law entitled employees to two (2) temporary schedule changes per year for qualifying personal events. This will no longer be required. Instead, an employee may request a temporary schedule change, but an employer is not required to agree. The employer is only required to respond to the employee’s request as soon as practicable. An employer may also propose an alternative temporary change, but the employee is not required to accept such alternative.
A “temporary change” is defined as a “limited alteration in the dates, hours, times, or locations where an employee is expected to work, including, but not limited to, using paid or unpaid time off, working remotely, swapping shifts with another employee, or shifting work hours to earlier or later in the work week or workday.” An employee’s request for a temporary schedule change is protected from retaliation.
Next Steps
In order to comply with these changes, employers must update their handbooks, leave policies, payroll and tracking systems ahead of February 2026. Employers should also take additional steps to ensure their supervisors understand the expanded definitions of sick and safe time, the new documentation rules, and the procedures for responding to schedule change requests.