On July 23, 2026, final rules issued by the New York City Department of Consumer and Worker Protection (“DCWP”) under the City’s Earned Safe and Sick Time Act (“ESSTA”) took effect. The rules update requirements relating to leave administration, written policies, employee notices, recordkeeping, and enforcement.
ESSTA generally requires covered New York City employers to provide employees with protected time off for specified reasons. Amendments effective February 22, 2026 expanded the reasons employees may use leave, added 32 hours of immediately available unpaid protected time off, and incorporated a separate 20-hour paid prenatal leave entitlement into City law. The final rules explain how employers must administer those changes.
Key Changes
- Immediately available hours. Employers must provide at least 32 hours of immediately available unpaid protected time off on an employee’s first day of employment and at the beginning of each new calendar year.
- Written policies. Employers must address protected time off and paid prenatal leave in a single written policy and provide it at the beginning of employment, within 14 days after any policy change, and upon request.
- Pay statements and electronic systems. Each pay period, employers must report protected time off accrued and used and the employee’s available paid and unpaid balances. Paid prenatal leave information must also be provided when that leave is used. Employers that provide this information electronically must either preserve former employees’ access for six months or provide the required information in writing within one week after the employee’s last payday.
- Recordkeeping. Employers must retain their policies and other records demonstrating compliance for at least three years.
- Enforcement and penalties. A policy or practice of failing to provide or permit the use of required leave may result in restoration of affected leave balances, $500 in relief per affected employee for each calendar year the policy or practice was in effect, and civil penalties.
Employers with New York City employees should review and update their written leave policies, payroll and reporting systems, and recordkeeping practices to comply with the final rules. Covered employers should also confirm that they have distributed and posted DCWP’s current Notice of Employee Rights.