All in the family: New York expands paid family leave law to cover siblings

On November 1, 2021, New York Governor Kathy Hochul signed legislation to expand the state’s paid family leave (PFL) law to cover siblings. Effective January 2023, the amendment will add care for a sibling with a serious health condition as a basis for the paid leave. Read on to understand how the change will affect your business.

Background

The PFL statute provides private-sector employees with up to 12 weeks of job-protected, paid time off (PTO) to (1) bond with a newborn child, including a biological, adopted, or fostered child, (2) care for a family member, such as a spouse, domestic partner, child, or parent, with a serious health condition, or (3) assist a family member who is deployed abroad on active military service.

Eligible employees may take up to 12 weeks off at 67 percent of their pay up to an “average weekly wage” cap, which for 2021 has been $971.61 per week. The payments for PFL benefits are funded through employee deductions, similar to New York’s disability benefits (DB) program.

Depending on the employer’s size, PFL (as well as enhanced DB benefits) may be available when an employee or the employee’s minor, dependent child is under a health department’s quarantine or isolation order because of COVID-19. Unless public-sector employers have opted in, the leave law would not apply to them.

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