As previously reported here by @Nancy Schess and @Afsha Malik, New York City’s Earned Safe and Sick Time Act (“ESSTA”) was amended once again expanding the scope and requirements for all covered New York City employers effective February 22, 2026.

On June 24, 2026, amended rules were adopted and those rules will become effective on July 23, 2026.  These amended rules, while similar to the proposed rules published on January 22, 2026, have practical implications for employers which should be reviewed and implemented into each employer’s policies.

Expanded Permitted Used of Sick/Safe Leave

The new rules permit employees to take “Sick Leave” for the following additional purposes related to a public disaster:

• When an employee’s place of business is closed;
• To care for a child whose school or childcare provider restricted in-person operations; and
• If an employee is prevented from reporting to work because of a public official order to remain indoors or avoid travel.

A “public disaster” is defined as an event such as fire, explosion, severe weather conditions or other catastrophe. The “public disaster” must be declared by a public official for Sick Time to be used.   When a public official declares a weather event, like a snowstorm or hurricane, a state of emergency, Sick Time may be used for that absence. 

Additional “Safe Time” permitted uses include leave:

• Where workplace violence has occurred involving an employee or their family member leave may be used for any number of safety measures; 
• When the employee is a caregiver for a minor child or a person with a disability, to provide care; and 
• In connection with legal proceedings related to (or to obtain or continue) subsistence benefits or housing for themselves, their family member, or care recipient.

Of practical significance, when an employee’s child’s school is closed for a holiday or daycare is cancelled, Safe Time may be used to care for the child. 

Unpaid Sick/Safe Leave

ESSTA was also amended to require all employers to provide an additional 32 hours of unpaid Sick and Safe Time on the day of hire for each employee and on the first day of each calendar year.  This bank can be used for any permitted purpose under ESSTA. 

The adopted rules do provide clarification on how an employer can satisfy this new requirement when they provide more paid time than the law requires.  Employers may fulfill this 32-hour requirement if they provide at least 32-hours of paid time immediately at hire and on January 1 of each calendar year and provide a sufficient amount of time for the remainder of the year to satisfy both the paid and unpaid protected time off requirement.  For example, if an employee provides 80 hours of paid Sick and Safe Leave annually, and at least 32 hours are immediately available at hire and annually, then this employer does not need to provide a separate 32-hour bank of unpaid Sick and Safe Leave.

When an employee has both paid and unpaid Sick and Safe Time available, the employer generally must apply paid time off first unless the employee affirmatively chooses to use unpaid time off. Only after the employee exhausts available paid Sick and Safe Time may the employer rely on the unpaid bank to cover the absence.

The rules also instruct that employers should provide paid time off when necessary to comply with other legal obligations or preserve exemptions under federal and state overtime laws. 

New Affirmative Post-Employment Notice Obligation

Employers that exclusively use electronic systems for providing Sick and Safe Time information will now need to provide employees with post-employment access to Sick and Safe Time records or provide a written statement reflecting this information. 

Specifically, after an employee’s separation of employment, an employer must either continue to provide the former employee with access to the employer’s electronic system for six months or provide the former employee with a written statement no later than seven (7) days following the employee’s last payday containing the following information:

• The amount of Safe and Sick Time accrued and used during the last pay period;
• The employee’s total balance of accrued Safe and Sick Time;
• The amount of accrued Safe and Sick Time available for use by the employee;
• The amount of paid prenatal leave used during the last pay period; and
• The employee’s total balance of paid prenatal leave.

Effect of Rehiring 

Upon rehiring an employee within the same calendar year as the employee’s separation from employment, the employer must reinstate the employee’s unused portion of immediately available unpaid Sick and Safe Time (as opposed to a new 32-hours).

NYC Enforcement Case Study

Along with these amendments in February 2026, NYC issued a study titled Benchmarks for Evaluating Compliance with NYC's Protected Time Off Law which is intended to shed light into how the city intends to enforce ESSTA.  The Department of Consumer and Worker Protection (DCWP) developed a data-driven approach to analyze Sick and Safe Time use in a workplace based on the type of industry to determine if an employer is in violation of ESSTA.  The study will be used in DCWP investigations and enforcement actions and when low usage of Sick and Safe Time is found, DCWP will assume that the employer did not make time off available and find a violation of ESSTA.

DCWP has created a Protected Time Off Usage Compliance Tracker for employers to self-audit their compliance with the law.  

What should employers do?

All NYC employers should confirm their written paid Sick and Safe Time policies comply with the new amendments to the law and its amended rules.  Employers should review the case study published by DCWP and use the tools provided by NYC to audit the Sick and Safe Time usage of their staff to determine if they are in compliance with the NYC’s parameters. 

For More Information

For more information or to discuss, please contact a member of the Tarter Krinsky & Drogin Labor & Employment team.