In April 2024, the New York State Legislature passed Governor Hochul’s 2025 Executive Budget that expands the statewide Paid Family Leave (PFL) policy to provide 20 hours of paid prenatal personal leave per 52-week period for pregnant employees.
The first-of-its-kind law goes into effect January 1, 2025. As part of Governor Hochul’s initiative to improve maternal health, this new benefit provides paid personal time off for pregnant employees to receive health care services, including physical examinations, medical procedures, monitoring and testing, and discussions with a health care provider related to the pregnancy.
Notably, paid prenatal personal leave is in addition to paid sick and safe leave provided under the state’s sick leave law, and paid family leave under the PFL. The law requires employers to provide paid prenatal personal leave to their employees each year in the same manner as paid sick and safe leave required by New York State Labor Law. Employees may take this leave in hourly increments, and employers must pay employees in hourly installments at the employee’s regular rate of pay or the applicable minimum wage, whichever is greater. Paid prenatal personal leave is job protected, meaning employers generally must restore employees to the same position, with the same pay and other terms of employment, upon return from leave.
The law strictly prohibits employers from inquiring about confidential health information or using the disclosure of such information as a condition for providing paid prenatal personal leave, or from discriminating or retaliating against employees who utilize this benefit.
The New York State Department of Labor is authorized to adopt implementing regulations.
In light of this new law, employers should ensure that their current leave policies and employee handbooks are updated to reflect the new law. Employers may also use the opportunity to review policies in light of other recently adopted protections for pregnant or post-partum employees, including New York State’s Lactation Break Law and the federal Pregnant Workers Fairness Act.
