NYC Finalizes Rules for Updated Earned Safe and Sick Time Act—Effective July 23, 2026

Quick Hits

• New York City’s final rules for the amended ESSTA align with new requirements that employers provide an additional thirty-two hours of unpaid protected time off immediately upon hire and at the beginning of each calendar year.
• The final rules clarify that “protected time off” includes both paid and unpaid time for various circumstances, such as caring for a disabled household member or attending legal proceedings related to benefits.
• Employers must maintain detailed records of protected time off usage and ensure compliance with state and federal wage laws, including documentation of both paid and unpaid time.

The final rules, published via a Notice of Adoption, follow a public comment period on proposed rules released on January 22, 2026. The rules amend Subchapter B of chapter 7 of Title 6 of the Rules of the City of New York, implementing the statutory amendments to Administrative Code Section 20-912 adopted under Local Law No. 145 of 2025. That law, which took effect on February 22, 2026, requires employers to make an additional thirty-two hours of unpaid protected time off immediately available upon hire and on the first day of each calendar year.

The final rules largely track the January proposed rules but include several notable clarifications responsive to stakeholder comments. They formalize the regulatory label “Protected Time Off,” define it to have the same meaning as “safe/sick time” under Administrative Code Section 20-912, and fold in the additional authorized uses and the immediately available hours requirement established by Local Law 145.

Here is an explanation of the key provisions.

Expanded Protected Time Off

The final rules clarify that “protected time off” has the same meaning as “safe/sick time” under the amended ESSTA, which expanded the circumstances under which employees may take protected time off, and encompasses both paid time off and the new bank of unpaid time off. The expanded protected time off circumstances, as amended by Local Law 145, include:

• caring for a child or for a member of an employee’s household with a disability;
• attending legal proceedings related to benefits for an individual under an employee’s care;
• the closure of an employee’s place of business or a child’s school or place of care due to a public disaster;
• government directives to avoid travel or stay indoors during a public disaster;
• seeking legal services or assistance if an employee or a family member is a victim of workplace violence; and
• other reasons that would qualify for safe/sick time under the ESSTA.

Protected Time Off Availability

Further, the final rules clarify that employers must provide “a minimum of 32 hours” of “unpaid protected time off” that is “immediately available for use on the first day of employment and the first day of each new calendar year,” and that the employer must specify this in a written policy. If employers provide “both paid and unpaid protected time off, the employer shall provide paid protected time off to cover the employee’s absence, unless the employee requests to draw from the bank of unpaid protected time off instead.”

The final rules addressed some commenters’ concerns about paid and unpaid time by including language clarifying that employers “may fulfill its obligation to provide 32 unpaid immediately available hours by providing some or all of this time as an equivalent amount of paid protected time off.” (Emphasis added.) The final rules also add language not included in the proposed rules that employers “should pay employees for this immediately available protected time off when necessary to comply with other legal obligations” under state and federal law or meet the criteria for an overtime exemption, such as the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) salary basis test.

The final rules also clarify that when an employee separates and is rehired within the same calendar year, the employer must reinstate the unused portion of the thirty-two immediately available hours in addition to reinstating accrued time off.

Paid Prenatal Leave

The final rules confirm that covered employers must allow employees to use up to twenty hours of paid prenatal leave during any fifty-two-week period for healthcare services received during or related to pregnancy, “in addition to” protected time off. Employers may not require the use or exhaustion of other leave before paid prenatal leave, or vice versa, and may not require disclosure of the medical condition or nature of services as a condition of providing the leave.

Recordkeeping

The final rules clarify that employers must maintain contemporaneous, accurate records, including employee identifying information; weekly hours worked (unless the employee is exempt and regularly works forty hours per week or more); each use of protected time off or paid prenatal leave; and the amount paid. In addition to this general record keeping requirement, for each individual pay period, records must track the amount of protected time off accrued; the amount of protected time off used during the pay period (differentiating between paid and unpaid protected time off); the employee’s total balance of protected time off; the amount of protected time off available for use by the employee (differentiating between paid and unpaid protected time off); the amount of paid prenatal leave used during the pay period; and the employee’s total balance of paid prenatal leave. 

The final rules also add clarification that when employers use “an electronic system to issue pay statements and other documentation” related to protected time off or paid prenatal leave, they must allow employees who separate from the employer to have access to that system for six months or “alternatively, provide the employee with a written statement containing” required information.

Updated Penalties

The final rules provide that the finding of an official or unofficial policy or practice of failing to provide protected time off or paid prenatal leave constitutes a violation for each affected employee and is subject to enhanced penalties.

Evidence may include failure to maintain or distribute policies, unlawful barriers (such as replacement-worker requirements or unreasonable notice/documentation demands for absences of three or fewer days), waiting periods, blackout days, absence-control policies penalizing protected absences, or failure to pay or accrue at the required rate.

Relief for protected time off violations includes application of hours to the employee’s paid prenatal leave balance or protected time off balance, and a $500 payment per employee per calendar year. For violations of paid prenatal leave, relief includes twenty hours of leave and a $500 payment per employee per year.

Next Steps

The ESSTA statutory amendments (Local Law 145 of 2025) have been effective since February 22, 2026, meaning employers are already obligated to comply with the expanded leave requirements. The final rules provide an additional regulatory framework and compliance guidance that DCWP will apply in enforcement. The final rules are set to take effect July 23, 2026.

Considering the robust enforcement of the Earned Safe and Sick Time Act (now also known as the “Protected Time Off (PTO) Law”), employers in New York City, or those with employees there, may want to review and revise their leave policies, pay statement systems, and recordkeeping practices to align with both the statute and the final rules. They may also wish to consider training for supervisors and human resources professionals on the new immediately available hours, the paid/unpaid priority rules, and the updated penalty structure.

Ogletree Deakins’ New York office and Leaves of Absence/Reasonable Accommodation Practice Group will continue to monitor developments and will provide updates on the Leaves of Absence and New York blogs as additional information becomes available.

In addition, the Ogletree Deakins Client Portal covers legal developments in state and major locality paid sick leave laws, including New York City’s Earned Safe and Sick Time Act requirements. Premium-level subscribers have access to comprehensive updated law summaries and policies; Snapshots and Updates are complimentary for all registered client users. For more information on the Client Portal or a Client Portal subscription, please email clientportal@ogletree.com.

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