New York City Amends Earned Sick and Safe Time Act: Prenatal Leave Rules Take Effect July 2, 2025

Key Objectives: 

1. Key Amendments to New York City’s ESSTA
2. Penalties and Enforcement
3. What This Means for Businesses and How TCWGlobal Can Help
4. Want a quick reference guide?

Now, New York City has followed suit. On June 3, 2025, the city enacted amended rules to its Earned Safe and Sick Time Act (ESSTA), incorporating several provisions to align with the state’s PPPL law and adding new compliance requirements for businesses with operations in New York City, particularly related to paid prenatal leave. These changes go into effect on July 2, 2025.

Companies with workers in New York City must now comply with both the state and city-level prenatal leave regulations. While both entitlements grant 20 hours of paid prenatal leave, the New York City amendments add further complexity, particularly around documentation, notifications, policy language, and recordkeeping.

Key Amendments to New York City’s ESSTA

Below are highlights of the most impactful changes:

• Definition: NYC adopts the same definition for paid prenatal leave as New York State’s Paid Sick Leave law, which defines paid prenatal personal leave as “paid prenatal personal leave as “leave taken for the healthcare services received by the worker during their pregnancy or related to such pregnancy, including physical examinations, medical procedures, monitoring and testing, and discussions with a health care provider related to the pregnancy.”
  
  
• Leave Entitlement: Pregnant workers are entitled to 20 hours of paid prenatal leave during any 52-week period, aligned with the New York state law.
  
  
• Written Policy Requirement: Companies must maintain a written paid prenatal leave policy and distribute it to workers personally upon commencement of their employment, with 14 days of any changes to the policy going into force, and upon worker request. The policy must disclose (1) the specific prenatal entitlements, (2) any limitations or conditions placed on the leave by the company, (3) relevant notice practices and procedures, (4) documentation expectations and procedures, (5) penalties, if any, for not following procedure, (6) minimum increments for use of prenatal leave, and (7) confidentiality considerations.
  
  
• Balance Notifications: New York City will require companies to notify workers of prenatal leave hours used during the relevant pay period as well as their total available balance of paid prenatal leave for use. This must appear on pay stubs or equivalent written documentation, a rule that is not required by the state.
  
  
• Minimum Increments: Workers may choose how much paid prenatal leave to use, provided however that companies can set a minimum increment of one hour per day in a written policy, unless otherwise restricted by state or federal law. This provision aligns with New York State’s Paid Sick Leave Law, which allows prenatal leave to be taken in hourly increments.
  
  
• Documentation Standards: Unlike the state law, New York City’s ESSTA amended Rules allow companies to require workers to submit reasonable documentation that paid prenatal leave was used for an authorized purpose if the worker’s use of paid prenatal leave results in an absence of more than three consecutive workdays. It also details what forms of documentation may be considered reasonable.
  
  
• Worker Notice: Companies may require that workers provide 7 days’ notice for foreseeable absences leading to a need to use prenatal leave. Unforeseeable absences have a standard for workers to provide notice as soon as practicable. Furthermore, companies cannot require in-person requests or pre-leave document delivery for unforeseeable absences. There are listed permitted procedures for providing notice, such as via a uniform call-in procedure within the amended Rules. Conversely, the state prenatal leave mandate does not touch on notice standards.
  
  
• Interaction with Other Leave Types: Companies must provide paid prenatal leave unless a worker explicitly chooses another type of leave. Additionally, unless otherwise in conflict with state or federal regulations, companies cannot mandate that other leave be used before or in place of prenatal leave.
  
  
• Recordkeeping: New York City requires companies to maintain records of (1) the date and time of each instance of paid prenatal leave use by the worker, (2) the pay received during each instance of prenatal leave, (3) the amount of paid prenatal leave used per pay period, and (4) the worker’s total balance of paid prenatal leave for each pay period.

Penalties and Enforcement

Companies that fail to comply with New York City’s amended ESSTA rules may face significant consequences. Workers can recover the full amount of any unpaid wages,

interest from the date of underpayment, and liquidated damages up to 100% of the underpaid amount, unless the worker can demonstrate a good faith effort to comply.

In cases of retaliation, remedies may include reinstatement, injunctive relief, lost compensation or front pay, and liquidated damages of up to $20,000.

Civil penalties may also apply, including fines ranging from $500 for wage underpayment violations to as much as $10,000 for retaliation-related offenses.

What This Means for Businesses and How TCWGlobal Can Help

With the amended ESSTA rules taking effect on July 2, 2025, companies with workers in New York City must quickly review and revise their existing leave policies, onboarding materials, and HR systems to ensure compliance at both the state and city levels.

As a trusted global Employer of Record (EOR), TCWGlobal manages these ever-changing compliance obligations on your behalf. We distribute required policy updates, track usage, and deliver worker notifications all through our proprietary onboarding and workforce management platform, StaffingNation.

Let TCWGlobal help you stay compliant while focusing on what you do best: growing your team, not decoding complex labor law updates.

Want a quick reference guide?

Check out our Sick Leave Cheat Sheet for a breakdown of sick leave laws across U.S. states and cities.

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