February 24, 2026
New York City Proposes Rules for Additional Unpaid Sick and Safe Leave
As we previously reported, significant changes to the New York City Earned Sick and Safe Time Act (ESSTA) took effect on February 22, 2026.
Under the amended ESSTA, (1) employers are required to make immediately available an additional 32 hours of unpaid leave; (2) employees may use paid and unpaid time under the ESSTA for additional permissible reasons; and (3) employers are no longer required to grant temporary schedule changes under the New York City Temporary Schedule Change Act.
Ahead of these changes, NYC’s Department of Consumer and Worker Protection (DCWP) issued proposed rules for implementing the amended ESSTA. Under the proposed rules,
- “Safe/sick time” provided by ESSTA will be called “protected time off”;
- Employers must include the 32 hours of unpaid leave in their written ESSTA policies;
- Employers who provide paid time off that includes at least the total number of sick leave required by the amended ESSTA will not be required to provide an additional 32 unpaid hours, so long as at least 32 hours of time off are immediately available to employees on the effective date or upon hire and at the start of each subsequent calendar year;
- Employers must include in pay statements the amount of protected time off accrued and used during the relevant pay period, the balance of the accrued time, and the balance available for use, distinguishing between paid and unpaid time;
- Employers are not required to carry over from year to year any unused part of the employee’s 32-hours of unpaid protected time off; and
- Employers may face penalties for failing to provide unpaid protected time off and failing to allow its use in accordance with the amended law.
NYC will accept public comments on the proposed rules until March 2, 2026. But employers in NYC must begin complying with the amended ESSTA as of February 22, 2026. Employers are encouraged to reach out to Sheryl Galler at sgaller@booklawllp.com and Charlotte Pramer at cpramer@booklawllp.com with questions or concerns about the amended New York City sick leave law.
