New York Paid Family Leave

Covered Employers: Employers with at least 1 employee on each of at least 30 days in any calendar year.

Employee Eligibility: Employees who have worked at least 26 weeks and have worked more than 20 hours per week. Employees who work less than 20 hours per week must have worked at least 175 days.

Entitlement: Employee's entitlement for leave under the NYPFL and wage replacement rate will increase gradually through 2021.

Employees may use New York Paid Family Leave to bond with their newborn within 52 consecutive weeks of the child's placement or birth, or to bond with a newly adopted child or newly placed foster child, during the 52 consecutive weeks beginning on the date of the placement or first date of leave taken for adoption or foster care. Paid Family leave is not for prenatal conditions or appointments. An employee may elect to take PFL or DBL at the time of the child's birth, but they may not run concurrently. An employee who is eligible for both disability benefits and family leave during the same period of 52 consecutive calendar weeks cannot receive more than 26 total weeks of disability and family leave benefits during that period of time. Employees may also be entitled to NY Paid Family Leave to care for a parent, spouse, domestic partner, child, grandparent, or grandchild with a serious health condition. A "child" for the purposes of NY Paid Family Leave means "a biological, adopted, or foster son or daughter, a stepson or stepdaughter, a legal ward, a son or daughter of a domestic partner, or the person to whom the employee stands in loco parentis." A "parent" for the purposes of NY Paid Family Leave means "a biological, foster, or adoptive parent, a parent-in-law, a stepparent, a legal guardian, or other person who stood in loco parentis to the employee when the employee was a child."

A serious health condition for the purposes of NY Paid Family Leave specifically includes organ and tissue donation, both to prepare for and recover from surgery.

NY Paid Family Leave is also available because of any qualifying exigency as interpreted under the federal Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), when a spouse, child, domestic partner or parent of the employee is on active military duty abroad or has been notified of an impending call or order of active military duty. Employees can take leave to deal with obligations arising out of their family member's call to active duty. Examples include:

• Making alternative child care arrangements for a child of the deployed military member

• Attending certain military ceremonies and briefings

• Making financial or legal arrangements to address the military member’s absence

Employers can offer more generous paid leave benefits than required by law. Employers may submit their more generous plan to the NYS Workers’ Compensation Board for approval in lieu of obtaining the coverage required by law.

Within 18 days of filing a complete claim for benefits, the Paid Family Leave insurance carrier (or employer if self-insuring) must pay or deny the claim. If denying the claim, the insurer must provide an explanation in writing, including the reason, repeat any relevant information filed in the Request for Paid Family Leave, and include any other information considered by the carrier in making the decision.

Employer Notice: Employer must display or post notice in a conspicuous place in plain view where all employees and/or applicants can readily see it. In addition, if an employee has been absent from work for more than 7 consecutive days, the employer must provide the employee with a written statement of the employee's rights under the paid family leave law within 5 business days after the employee's 7th consecutive day of absence, or within 5 business days after the employer has received notice that the employee's absence is due to family leave, whichever is later.

Employee Notice: When the need for leave is foreseeable, the employee must provide 30 days of notice. (Note: the Absence product does not have an automated way of identifying whether enough notice was given, because it is impossible to identify in the system whether the employee could foresee their need for leave, and if so, when they knew they would need leave.)

Certification Supporting Need for Leave: A PFL 1,2,3,4 or 5 form with supporting certification may be required for approval. Once the employer receives a request for family leave from an employee, the employer shall complete the employer information contained in Part B of the Request for Paid Family Leave (currently form PFL-1), or any other carrier or self-insured employer designated format, and return it to the employee within three business days.

Paid: Paid at increasing benefit percentages, starting at 50% of average weekly wage in 2018 and ending at 67% in 2021

Benefits: Benefits shall remain intact.

Reinstatement: Employee shall be reinstated to their normal position.

Other important information: Paid Family Leave is to be taken in full day increments. If an employee has taken less than full days for an otherwise qualifying condition, and those days are paid by the employer, the employer may elect to deduct a full day of PFL when the partial absences become equal to a full day. The employer shall not be entitled to reimbursement from its carrier for such paid FMLA hours.

Absence Specification