Employee Benefits

May 14, 2024

New York Enacts Paid Prenatal Personal Leave Law

by Salvatore Gangemi of Murtha Cullina LLP

New York has amended its sick leave law (Labor Law § 196-b) to provide paid prenatal personal leave to all employees. Effective January 1, 2025, all employers shall be required to provide their employees with 20 hours of paid prenatal personal leave per 52-week period. Prenatal personal leave is leave taken by an employee “during their pregnancy or related to such pregnancy,” including for physical examinations, medical procedures, monitoring and testing, and discussions related to pregnancy with a health care provider. Prenatal personal leave may be taken in hourly increments.

Unlike overlapping leaves that run concurrently, prenatal personal leave is in addition to the paid or unpaid sick leave already required by New York law. Moreover, unlike sick leave currently required in New York, an employee qualifies for paid prenatal personal leave immediately upon hire. Read on for more information in this blog post.

October 5, 2020

New York Paid Sick Leave Law Now in Effect

by Salvatore Gangemi of Murtha Cullina LLP

On September 30, 2020, section 196-b of the New York State Labor Law went into effect. The legislation, which provides for the accrual of employer-provided sick leave, permits sick leave to be taken beginning on January 1, 2021. We wrote about the New York State Paid Sick Leave law previously, and have outlined the situations under which it must be provided to employees. Like New York City’s paid sick leave entitlements, the law applies to absences related to an employee’s status as a victim of domestic violence, family offense, sexual offense, stalking, or human trafficking, among other things. Want to know more? Just click here.

March 19, 2020

New York State Passes Expanded Sick Leave in Battle Against COVID-19

by Salvatore Gangemi of Murtha Cullina LLP

On the heels of the federal Families First Coronavirus Response Act signed into law yesterday, New York State has enacted broad legislation extending paid sick leave benefits to employees. The extent of paid sick leave is determined by employer size and revenue, and can be utilized by employees whether they are sick, or absent from work because of a “mandatory or precautionary order of quarantine or isolation” issued by “the state of New York, the department of health, local board of health, or any government entity duly authorized to issue such order due to COVID-19.” All of New York City is currently subject to such an order.

Under the legislation:

Employees of small employers (1-10 employees) with annual revenue under $1 million receive unpaid sick days and job protection, and qualify for state-funded paid family leave and disability benefits.

September 8, 2009

New York City Council Considers Paid Sick Leave Bill

by Salvatore Gangemi of Murtha Cullina LLP

The New York City Council has proposed a law that would provide paid sick days to all private sector workers.
According to the Department of Justice Office of Domestic Social Development, as of February 2009, 76% of low wage workers and 48% of full-time private sector workers are not paid for sick days.

April 16, 2009

COBRA Subsidies Under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009

by Salvatore Gangemi of Murtha Cullina LLP

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) of 2009 results in, among other things, substantial amendments to the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (“COBRA”). Among other things, the ARRA provides that “assistance eligible individuals” (“AEI”) are only required to pay 35% of the health insurance premium charged under a plan. Employers are responsible for paying the remaining 65%. However, the employer ultimately receives reimbursement from the government in the form of a credit against income tax withholding amounts and FICA taxes.