January 1, 2025 Due Date: New York Employers Should Prepare Now for the New Paid Prenatal Leave Law

As discussed in our prior alert, New York's amendment to New York Labor Law Section 196-b, providing employees with another opportunity for paid leave, goes into effect soon. Starting on January 1, 2025, New York employers must provide up to 20 hours of paid prenatal leave to eligible employees during any 52-week period. This new leave requirement is in addition to the State's sick leave and paid family leave requirements.

The amendment provides that paid prenatal leave may be taken for "health care services received by an employee 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 medical care." The amendment also notes that employees may take prenatal leave in hourly increments and is to be paid in hourly installments. Employers are not, however, required to pay out unused prenatal leave upon an employee's termination, resignation, retirement or separation.

With the amendment's effective date fast approaching, we are still waiting on guidance from the New York State Department of Labor (NYSDOL) to answer questions about the new law, such as how exempt employees (who are not paid on an hourly basis) should be compensated for use of prenatal care leave, and whether expecting employees who are not pregnant (but who have a partner who is) are eligible to use prenatal leave.

We continue to monitor for guidance from the NYSDOL and will provide updates on this new law when they become available. In the meantime, however, employers should review their handbooks and policies to ensure that existing policies are compliant, or prepare new policies to address the amendment. Employers should also confirm that their managers and payroll team are aware of this new law so that employee requests to use prenatal leave will be handled appropriately.

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BakerHostetler's New York Labor and Employment Practice Group is available to answer questions concerning this new prenatal leave law as well as to review or prepare any related employment policies.