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This is a reminder that amendments to the New York City Earned Safe and Sick Time Act (ESSTA) go into effect on February 22, 2026. The amendments to the ESSTA expand the reasons for which employees may use safe/sick time to include:
- closure of the employer’s place of business or closure of or restriction of in-person operations of the employee’s child’s school or place of care due to a public disaster;
- to comply with the direction by a public official to remain indoors or avoid travel during a public disaster which prevents the employee from reporting to work;
- to seek legal or social services where the employee or their family member is a victim of workplace violence;
- to provide care to the employee’s minor child or other care recipient; and
- in connection with legal proceedings, hearings or other matters relating to obtaining, maintaining or restoring subsistence benefits or housing for the employee, their family member, or care recipient.
In addition, the ESSTA amendments establish a separate bank of thirty-two (32) hours of unpaid leave that can be used for the same reasons and subject to the same conditions as paid safe/sick time. All thirty-two (32) hours are available immediately on February 22 for existing employees, upon hire for new employees, and at the beginning of each year for all employees going forward. The amount of unpaid safe/sick time available and used each pay period must appear on the employee’s paystub, as is already required for paid safe/sick time.
Finally, the ESSTA amendments significantly revise the “Temporary Schedule Change” law to eliminate the requirement that employers allow employees to change their work schedule twice per year in lieu of using available safe/sick time. Instead, employees may request such a change, but employers are not required to allow the schedule change.
Additional rules and enforcement guidance related to the ESSTA amendments are still forthcoming from the City, along with an updated Notice of Employee Rights: Safe and Sick Leave, but as the effective date quickly approaches, employers should be prepared to implement – and notify employees of – these changes.
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