New York State requires private employers to provide up to 40 or 56 hours of sick leave per year, depending on how many employees they have. Under New York Labor Law § 196-b, employers with 5 or more employees must pay for that leave, and employers with 100 or more must provide 56 hours. Since January 1, 2025, every private employer must also provide 20 hours of paid prenatal leave, separate from sick leave.
New York City layers its own Earned Safe and Sick Time Act on top of the state law, and it expanded that law again on February 22, 2026. This guide answers the most common questions, explains how to determine your employer size tier, shows how prenatal leave fits with sick leave, and compares state and city requirements. It reflects the state’s paid sick leave guidance and paid prenatal leave FAQs, and New York City’s 2026 amendments and final rule.
Common Questions About New York Paid Sick Leave
Who can take paid sick leave in New York?
All private-sector employees in New York State, regardless of industry, occupation, part-time status or overtime-exempt status. Government employees aren’t covered by the state law.
Which employers have to provide this leave?
Every private employer with employees in New York. What they must provide depends on employer size and, for the smallest employers, net income in the prior tax year:
| Employer size | Sick leave required per year |
| 100 or more employees | Up to 56 hours, paid |
| 5 to 99 employees | Up to 40 hours, paid |
| 4 or fewer employees, net income over $1 million | Up to 40 hours, paid |
| 4 or fewer employees, net income of $1 million or less | Up to 40 hours, unpaid |
How to count employees for these tiers is covered in its own section below.
How much leave do employers need to provide?
Employees earn at least 1 hour of sick leave for every 30 hours worked, up to their employer’s tier limit. They can use leave as soon as they accrue it. The year can be the calendar year or any other 12-month period the employer chooses.
What can New York paid sick leave be used for?
The employee’s or a family member’s mental or physical illness, injury or health condition, including diagnosis, treatment and preventive care. Employees can also use it as safe leave when they or a family member are a victim of domestic violence, a family offense, a sexual offense, stalking or human trafficking.
Family members include children, spouses, domestic partners, parents, siblings, grandchildren, grandparents, and the children or parents of a spouse or domestic partner.
How does this relate to other types of leave?
An existing sick leave or PTO policy satisfies the law if it provides at least as much leave, usable for the same purposes, under conditions that meet the law. Collective bargaining agreements entered into after September 30, 2020 must specifically reference Labor Law § 196-b to substitute for its requirements.
Paid prenatal leave is a separate benefit with its own rules, covered below. Employers in New York City must also follow the city’s law.
Can employers limit how many hours of sick leave employees use in a year?
Yes. Employers with 99 or fewer employees can limit use to 40 hours per year, and employers with 100 or more can limit it to 56 hours. Any limits must be in writing, posted or given to employees, and communicated before the leave is earned.
Can employers provide all the leave at once instead of letting it accrue?
Yes. Employers can frontload the full amount at the start of each year. Once given, frontloaded leave can’t be revoked or reduced later in the year, even if the employee works fewer hours than expected.
Employers can frontload part-time employees a smaller amount based on their expected hours. Employers that do must keep tracking hours, let the employee accrue more if they work more, and allow carryover of up to 40 unused hours.
Do employers have to carry over unused leave?
Yes. Unused sick leave carries over to the next year. Because employers can still cap annual use at 40 or 56 hours, an employee’s balance can be larger than what they’re allowed to use in a given year. The state’s guidance doesn’t exempt frontloaded leave from carryover.
Attorney insight
Carryover is the question I hear most from New York employers, and the state’s guidance doesn’t fully settle it. Until it does, the safe approach is to let unused hours carry over, frontloaded or not, and rely on the annual use cap to control cost.
What is the smallest amount of leave an employee can use?
Employers can set a minimum increment, but it can’t be more than 4 hours. Like other limits, the increment must be communicated in writing before the leave is earned. Paid prenatal leave is used in hourly increments.
How much do employers have to pay for sick leave?
Employees are paid their regular rate of pay or the applicable minimum wage, whichever is greater. Employers can’t apply a tip credit to paid sick leave hours, and can’t lower an employee’s pay rate only for hours spent on sick leave.
What notice do employers and employees need to provide?
Employers must communicate their sick leave policy, including any limits, in writing or by posting. When an employee asks, the employer must provide a summary of their sick leave accrued and used within three business days. See New York labor law poster requirements for posting obligations.
State law doesn’t set a specific advance notice period. Employees must make an oral or written request to use leave.
What verification can employers ask for?
None for absences of fewer than three consecutive scheduled workdays. For absences of three or more consecutive days, employers can ask for limited documentation, such as an attestation from a health care provider or from the employee, that the leave was for a covered reason. Employees can’t be required to pay for documentation or to disclose confidential information, such as the nature of an illness or details of a safe leave situation.
Are employees’ jobs and benefits protected when they take this leave?
Yes. Employers can’t retaliate against employees for using sick leave and must restore them to the same position, pay and other terms of employment when they return. Employers must keep payroll records showing sick leave accrued and used each week for six years. Unused sick leave doesn’t have to be paid out at separation. See the New York employee separation guide and checklist for final pay rules.
Which Tier Are You In? Counting Employees
Your tier determines whether leave is paid and whether you owe 40 or 56 hours, so the count matters. Under the Department of Labor’s regulation:
- Count the highest number of employees employed at the same time at any point in the calendar year to date.
- Count part-time employees the same as full-time employees.
- Count employees on leave if you reasonably expect them to return.
- Count jointly employed workers for each employer.
Because the count looks at the highest point in the year, seasonal hiring can move an employer into a higher tier. A retailer with 85 employees most of the year that staffs up to 104 for the holidays has reached the 100-employee threshold for that calendar year.
For the smallest employers, net income matters too. A four-person consulting firm with $1.2 million in net income in the prior tax year must pay for sick leave. A four-person firm with $600,000 in net income can provide it unpaid.
“Check the count at your peak, not your average. A busy holiday season can be enough to move you into the 56-hour tier.” — Ryan Parker, Esq.
Paid Prenatal Leave: How It Fits With Sick Leave
Since January 1, 2025, every private employer in New York, regardless of size, must provide 20 hours of paid prenatal leave. The leave covers health care services during or related to pregnancy, such as physical exams, medical procedures, monitoring and testing, and discussions with a provider about the pregnancy. The key rules, from the state’s FAQs:
- All 20 hours are available immediately, with no accrual and no minimum length of employment.
- The 20 hours apply per 52-week period, which starts the first time the employee uses the leave, not on January 1.
- Employees use it in hourly increments and are paid their regular rate or the minimum wage, whichever is greater.
- It’s separate from sick leave. Employers can’t require employees to use sick leave first or choose one over the other.
- Employers can’t require medical records or confidential health information.
- Only the employee receiving prenatal care can use it. Spouses and partners attending appointments aren’t covered by this leave.
- Unused hours don’t have to be paid out at separation.
Consider an employee who has a two-hour prenatal appointment every month. She can use prenatal leave for the first ten appointments and keep her sick leave for illness. If a pregnancy complication keeps her home for three days, she can use sick leave for those days, and the employer can ask for limited documentation because the absence reaches three consecutive workdays.
“The most common prenatal leave mistake I see is treating it as part of the sick leave bank. It’s a separate 20 hours. A policy that makes employees spend sick time first, or that counts prenatal hours against the 40 or 56, needs to be rewritten. Also watch the 52-week clock, which starts with the first appointment, not the calendar year.” — Ryan Parker, Esq.
New York State vs. New York City
Employees who work in New York City are covered by both the state law and the city’s Earned Safe and Sick Time Act. The two run at the same time, and employers must follow the more generous provisions of each. The city’s paid leave amounts follow the same 40- and 56-hour tiers, but the city requires more on top:
| Rule | New York State | New York City (as of February 22, 2026) |
| Additional time off | None | 32 more hours of protected time off, available on the first day of employment and again each January 1. Can be unpaid, or paid at the employer’s choice |
| Proration | Part-time frontloading can be prorated | The 32 hours aren’t prorated for part-time employees or mid-year hires |
| Carryover of the extra hours | Not applicable | Unused extra hours don’t carry over |
| Order of use | Not addressed | Paid hours must be used first unless the employee asks to use unpaid hours |
| Covered uses | Illness, care, preventive care and safe leave | Adds caregiving, public disaster closures, stay-at-home directives, workplace violence, and legal proceedings or applications for public benefits or housing |
| Prenatal leave | 20 paid hours per 52-week period | Same 20 hours, now written into city law |
| Pay statements | Summary within three business days of a request | Each pay statement must show paid and unpaid time accrued, used and available, separately |
City employers also had to distribute the city’s new Notice of Employee Rights by March 24, 2026, and must give employees a written policy at hire, within 14 days of any change and on request. If an employee is rehired in the same calendar year, unused unpaid hours must be reinstated along with accrued paid hours. For city-level detail, see SixFifty’s guide to New York City paid sick leave.
“The “unpaid” 32 hours can be a trap for exempt staff. Docking an exempt employee’s salary for a partial day can put their exempt status at risk, so many employers simply pay those hours for exempt employees. If you have a large NYC workforce, decide that before the first request comes in, and make sure payroll can show paid and unpaid balances separately.” — Ryan Parker, Esq.
Two ways to structure a policy across the state
A company with offices in Manhattan and Albany can run one statewide policy that meets the city’s requirements, giving every employee the 32 extra hours and the city’s broader uses. That’s simpler to administer and harder to get wrong. Or it can run the state policy everywhere and add a city addendum for employees who work in New York City. That costs less, but payroll has to track which employees are covered and show two kinds of balances on their pay statements.
Simplify New York Paid Sick Leave with SixFifty
Between state sick leave, prenatal leave and New York City’s expanded rules, New York employers have several overlapping requirements to track. SixFifty helps employers keep their policies aligned with each one, with less administrative work for HR. Schedule a free demo today, explore the paid leave policy creator, or see paid sick leave laws and requirements by state. For handbook updates, see New York employee handbook requirements and how to build a New York employee handbook.
