Significant amendments to New York City’s Earned Safe and Sick Time Act (ESSTA) became effective February 22, 2026. These amendments will expand employee rights and employer obligations. They are designed to ensure that workers can take time off from work – with protections – to address health and safety needs, without losing their jobs or pay in many cases.
Under the current ESSTA, the amount of safe and sick leave that covered employers are required to provide employees depends on the employers’ size and, in some instances, the employers’ net income. Employers with more than 4 – but no more than 99 employees – must provide employees with 40 hours of safe and sick leave per year, and employers with 100 or more employees must provide up to 56 hours of safe and sick leave per year.
Employers with four or fewer employees must provide up to 40 hours of unpaid safe and sick leave if the employer’s net income in the prior tax year was less than $1 million, up to 40 hours of paid safe and sick leave if the employer’s net income was $1 million or more, and up to 40 hours of paid safe and sick leave to domestic workers regardless of the employer’s income.
Employees may use such leave for their own, or a family member’s, illness or medical care; closure of a school or childcare provider due to a public health emergency; or to seek legal or social services if the employee or their family member is a victim of domestic violence, sexual assault, stalking or human trafficking.
The ESSTA amendments set to take effect in February expand the protections provided to employees under this law as set forth below.
Additional 32 Hours of Unpaid Leave. Covered employers will be required to provide 32 hours of unpaid safe and sick leave, which must be available immediately upon hire and again at the start of each calendar year. Employers do not need to permit employees to carry over any unused amount of the 32 hours of unpaid time to the following year. Employees may use this unpaid leave for any of the reasons covered under the ESSTA.
Additional Reasons for Leave. In addition to the reasons covered under the current ESSTA, under the amendments, employees will be able to use safe and sick leave for the following reasons:
- When the employee or the employee’s family member is a victim of workplace violence;
- When the employee is a caregiver for a minor child or care recipient, to provide care to the minor child or care recipient;
- To care for a child whose school or childcare provider has been closed or has restricted in-person operations by order of a public official due to a public disaster; and
- To attend or prepare for a legal proceeding or hearing related to subsistence benefits or housing.
20 Hours of Paid Prenatal Leave. As amended, the ESSTA will entitle employees up to 20 hours of paid prenatal leave during any 52-week calendar period, consistent with the New York State prenatal leave law that went into effect on January 1, 2026.
The policy goals of ESSTA are to promote public health by encouraging workers with contagious conditions to stay home instead of working while sick, thereby reducing the spread of illness in workplaces and the community. Additionally, the law was designed to support economic security so that workers, especially lower-wage employees, do not have to choose between a paycheck and necessary medical or safety-related time off.
In short, the Act’s purpose, along with its amendments, is to guarantee job-protected safe and sick leave so workers can deal with health, caregiving and safety crises while maintaining employment and income stability.
Maintaining compliance with New York labor laws matters because it reduces legal exposure (investigations, lawsuits, and even criminal referral in some wage cases) and protects your business from expensive wage repayments and penalties.
Any licensed for-hire base can feel free to contact me at any time for more information on how to comply with the law or to determine whether you are in compliance.
