Beginning on January 1, 2025, all New York employers will be required to provide eligible employees with 20 hours of paid prenatal leave (“Paid Prenatal Leave”) during any 52-week period for health care services during or related to their pregnancy. The law was initially passed in May 2024 by Governor Kathy Hochul, and amends New York Labor Law § 196-b, the state’s Paid Sick and Safe Leave law. On December 2, 2024, the New York Department of Labor (“NYDOL”) released a long-awaited series of FAQs (the “FAQs”) clarifying a number of outstanding questions regarding the law’s application. The law is the first of its kind in the United States, and provides paid, protected leave for pregnant employees separate and apart from other available leave options. Key highlights of the Paid Prenatal Leave law are summarized below.

Eligibility for Paid Prenatal Leave

Paid Prenatal Leave applies to all New York private-sector employers with no minimum employee threshold. The FAQs broadly define “private-sector employers” to include “persons, corporations, limited liability companies, or associations employing any individual in any occupation, industry, trade, business, or service, regardless of part-time and overtime exempt status.”

While Paid Prenatal Leave is available to both full-time and part-time employees, only employees who directly receive prenatal health care services are covered by the law, and not spouses, partners or other support persons. The law permits covered employees to use Paid Prenatal Leave for multiple pregnancies within a 52-week period, but caps the total leave available to 20 hours in any 52-week period. Stated differently, unused prenatal leave does not appear to carry over from year to year.

Permitted Uses for Paid Prenatal Leave

The law defines “paid prenatal personal leave” to include “physical examinations, medical procedures, monitoring and testing, and discussions with a health care provider related to the pregnancy.” The FAQs further clarify that the law covers fertility treatments, such as in vitro fertilization, and end-of-pregnancy care appointments, but does not apply to post-natal or postpartum appointments.

Accrual Not Required for Paid Prenatal Leave

The FAQs clarify that the law does not require employees to accrue Paid Prenatal Leave or work for an employer for a minimum amount of time before accessing Paid Prenatal Leave. As such, all employees, including new hires, will be entitled to 20 hours of Paid Prenatal Leave per year after January 1, 2025.

Notice of Paid Prenatal Leave

The NYDOL encourages employees to provide employers advanced notice of leave requests and encourages employers to communicate how to request leave to their employees. In this regard, the NYDOL advises covered employees that they should request Paid Prenatal Leave by using existing notification and request procedures within their workplace.

Compensation for Paid Prenatal Leave

Employees must take Paid Prenatal Leave in hourly increments, and must receive compensation at their regular rate of pay, or the applicable minimum wage established pursuant to New York law, whichever is greater. Employers are not required to pay an employee for unused Prenatal Leave at the time of termination or separation from employment.

Record-Keeping Obligations

While the law does not specifically require record-keeping on pay stubs or in leave accrual banks, the NYDOL advises that it is “best practice for employers to maintain clear records of available types of leave and amounts of leave used in a manner accessible to both the employer and employee.” It will be especially important for employers to record the date Paid Prenatal Leave is first taken, as this is the “triggering date” for the rolling 52-week period contemplated by the law.

Interaction With New York Paid Sick Leave

The FAQs make clear that Paid Prenatal Leave is a separate employee benefit from leave available under New York’s Paid Sick Leave Law (which provides for at least 40 or 56 hours of leave per year, depending on the size of the employer). An employer may not require an employee to choose one leave type over another or require an employee to exhaust one type of leave before using Paid Prenatal Leave.

Paid Prenatal Leave is otherwise subject to the same requirements as Paid Sick Leave. For example, an employer may not, among other things: (i) require the disclosure of confidential information about an employee’s health condition(s), such as medical records, as a condition of providing Paid Prenatal Leave; or (ii) penalize, discriminate or retaliate against an employee for requesting or taking such leave.

Key Takeaways for Employers

These new additions to New York’s Paid Sick and Safe Leave law represent a significant advancement in the benefits afforded to pregnant workers and set a precedent for other states to follow. Although New York is the first state to mandate such leave, the law aligns with current trends demonstrated by recently-enacted federal laws, including the Pregnancy Workers Fairness Act and the Providing Urgent Maternal Protections for Nursing Mothers (“PUMP”) Act, which afford employment protections to pregnant and nursing employees. New York employers should take steps to ensure compliance with the new law, including revising their employee handbooks and sick leave policies and training supervisors and human resources personnel.