Family, medical, and other types of leave

Workers' Rights

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As a worker in New York state, you have rights to certain types of leave. The amount of time off you receive depends on many things, including your employer’s size and income. We developed this guidance to help you understand the different types of leave, what you are entitled to, and how you can use the leave available to you.

New York employers must provide certain types of leave

The law does not require most employers to provide any paid vacation. But your employer can be required to keep any promise it made you to provide vacations, holidays, or sick days. And most employees are entitled to paid family leave and paid sick leave, which we describe in more detail on this page.

You have the right to sick leave

If you are an employee working in New York state, you may qualify for paid or unpaid sick leave under New York state’s sick-leave law. Here are some details about the law.

The amount of sick leave your employer must provide depends on the employer’s size and net income. Here is the minimum number of hours an employer must provide per calendar year:

  • 100 or more employees: up to 56 hours of paid sick leave
  • 5-99 employees, or 0-4 employees and net income over $1 million: up to 40 hours of paid sick leave
  • 0-4 employees and net income of $1 million or less: up to 40 hours of unpaid sick leave

The number of sick-leave hours you have depends on how many hours you have worked for your employer. If your employer is covered by New York state’s sick-leave law, you should earn one hour of leave for every 30 hours worked. You can take this leave as soon as you earn it.

If you are an eligible worker in New York state, you may be able to take paid time off to do any of the following:

  • recover from a physical or mental illness or injury
  • seek medical diagnosis, treatment, or preventive care
  • care for a family member who is ill or needs medical diagnosis, treatment, or preventive care

You can use sick time for your own care or to care for any of your following relatives:

  • child or grandchild
  • parent or grandparent
  • spouse or domestic partner
  • spouse’s or domestic partner’s parent
  • sibling

You can also use sick time as safe time to address certain needs because you or a member of your family is a victim of domestic violence, stalking, or a sexual offense.

Learn more at New York state’s website on paid sick leave

You may qualify for other types of leave:

If you work in New York City, your employer may owe you sick leave

You may qualify for leave under New York City’s law for paid sick leave.

The amount of leave that New York City employers must provide each calendar year depends on their size, income, and type of employees:

  • 100 or more employees: up to 56 hours of paid leave
  • five to 99 employees: up to 40 hours of paid leave
  • one to five employees and net income of at least $1 million: up to 40 hours of paid leave
  • one to five employees and net income below $1 million: up to 40 hours of unpaid leave
  • at least one domestic worker: up to 40 hours of paid leave
  • 100 or more domestic workers: up to 56 hours of paid leave

As a New York City employee:

  • You earn one hour of paid sick-and-safe time for each 30 hours you have worked.
  • You can begin using sick and safe time as soon as you earn it.
  • You can carry over 40 or 56 hours (depending on your employer’s size) of earned sick time from one year to the next.
  • Your employer is required only to allow you to use 40 or 56 hours of earned time per year (even if you have earned more).

If you need to use your sick time, make a request to your employer:

  • Your employer may require you to provide reasonable notice only if you know in advance that you will need to use sick time.
  • For unexpected medical issues, you do not have to give advance notice, but your employer may require you to give notice as soon as you can.  
  • Your employer cannot require you to provide documentation from medical professionals about needing sick leave unless you are out for more than three days in a row.

If you are a New York City employee who also qualifies for paid sick leave under New York state law, you cannot take your leaves on separate occasions. Paid sick leave will run at the same time ─ for instance, if you receive five days from the state and five days from New York City, you can take only five days. If you get more leave under New York City sick-leave law than under New York state sick-leave law, you can take the larger amount of leave.

If you work in New York City and have been unlawfully denied sick leave, or if you want more information, file a complaint at the New York City Department of Consumer and Worker Protection site.  

You may be entitled to unpaid sick leave

Under federal, state, or local laws, you may have the right to sick leave without pay.

The federal Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) may provide more time off

The federal Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) guarantees employees 12 weeks of leave within a 12-month period. This law, which requires your employer to keep your job for you, applies if you are unable to work because of a serious medical condition, have a new baby or child, or must take care of a family member (spouse, child, or parent) with a serious health condition.

Your employer must be covered under the law and you must be eligible under the law.

Your employer is covered under the FMLA if it is either of the following:

  • a public agency
  • a private-sector employer with at least 50 or more employees who work at least 20 workweeks in a calendar year

If you work for a covered employer, you are eligible under the FMLA if all of the following are true:

  • You have worked 1,250 hours during the 12 months before the start of leave.
  • You have worked for this employer for 12 months.
  • Your employer has 50 or more employees within 75 miles of your work location.

If FMLA applies to you, you do not have to take this leave all at once:

  • You can take FMLA leave part time.
  • You can alternate working some days and taking other days off.
  • Your employer must continue your health insurance during your leave, but you may have to make employee contributions (that is, the portion of the premiums you are responsible for).

Request leave from your employer as soon as you know you will need it. If you know ahead of time that you need leave, give your employer 30 days’ notice.

If you have been unlawfully denied FMLA leave, or for more information, call the U.S. Department of Labor’s (DOL) Wage and Hour Division at 1-866-487-9243 or learn more at DOL’s website on FMLA.

You may qualify for paid leave for your pregnancy

During your pregnancy, you are entitled to 20 hours of paid sick time to use for prenatal care visits beginning January 1, 2025. These hours are in addition to other sick and leave time. You are also entitled to paid 30-minute breaks to pump breast milk at work as often as you reasonably require.

Find out if your employer provides health insurance

The law does not currently require most employers to grant health insurance. However, if your employer promises such benefits, it must live up to its promise.

The federal Affordable Care Act does not require employers to provide health insurance. Rather, employers with more than 50 employees must pay a tax penalty if they do not provide health insurance. So, it is the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) that enforces the law ─ not labor or healthcare agencies.

If your employer does not provide health insurance, learn more about signing up for health insurance at the New York State of Health website.

Your employer does not have to provide a pension or retirement benefits

The law does not currently require most employers to grant pensions or retirement benefits. If you have questions about your pension plan or benefits, call 1-866-444-EBSA or learn more at the U.S. Employee Benefits Security Administration website.

You may qualify for time off for a temporary disability

If you become ill or injured off the job, you may qualify for short-term-disability benefits:

  • Disability benefits are paid at 50 percent of your average weekly wage.
  • The maximum pay is $170 per week.

For more information on temporary-disability benefits:

You may be eligible for New York’s Paid Family Leave (PFL) program

If you work in New York state for a private employer, you may qualify for New York’s Paid Family Leave (PFL) program.

Under the PFL program:

  • You receive 67 percent of your average weekly wage up to a maximum.
  • The maximum you can receive is 67 percent of the current New York state average weekly wage.
  • As of 2025, the weekly maximum benefit is $1,177.32.
  • If you are a full-time employee, you can start taking leave after 26 weeks of starting work.
  • If you are a part-time employee, you can start taking leave after 175 days of work.

To get PFL, request leave from your employer as soon as possible. If you know ahead of time that you wish to take PFL, give 30 days’ advance notice.

Learn more about the program at the New York state PFL website.

PFL may provide time off if you have a baby or child through childbirth, adoption, or foster care

You can take PFL as any type of parent (mother or father; learn more at the PFL section of this website). You can take this type of leave for up to 12 weeks to bond with a newly born, adopted, or fostered child, among other reasons. Learn more about what this program covers at New York state’s PFL site.

Short-term disability may be another way to get parental benefits if you are giving birth:

  • These benefits would be given for the period that your doctor certifies you are unable to work after the birth of a child.
  • The maximum period is 26 weeks.
  • You cannot collect PFL and short-term disability at the same time.
  • You can collect both types of benefits within the same year, as long as you do not take more than 26 weeks of combined PFL and short-term disability benefits within a 52-week period.

For more information about disability benefits, call 1-877-632-4996 or learn more at the New York State Workers’ Compensation Board website.

In addition, you may qualify for unpaid leave under the federal FMLA program (learn more about FMLA at the FMLA section of this website):

  • Some workers can request up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave per year to care for a newborn child.
  • Both men and women can apply for FMLA.
  • If your leave qualifies for both state and federal leave, you must take them at the same time. That is, you cannot take state and federal leave at separate times in one year.

You can use PFL to care for a family member

PFL provides job-protected, paid time off (learn more about PFL on this website). In addition to using PFL to bond with a new baby or child, you can also use it to:

  • care for a family member with a serious health condition
  • help loved ones when a family member is deployed abroad on active military service

Family members include spouse; domestic partner; child or stepchild, or anyone for whom you have legal custody, parent or stepparent; sibling; parent-in-law; grandparent; and grandchild.

Note that you cannot use PFL for your own medical conditions, in most cases. To care for your own conditions, you may qualify for New York state’s sick-leave law (learn more about New York state’s sick-leave law on this website).

If you have been unlawfully denied paid family leave, or to get more information, call the PFL Helpline at (844) 337-6303 or learn more at the New York state PFL website.

Know your rights as a domestic worker

Domestic workers work in another person’s home, including jobs such as caring for children or a sick or elderly person, performing housekeeping chores, and doing other domestic duties.

If you are a domestic worker, you may have rights to leave under state and local laws.

In New York state

Under the New York State Domestic Workers’ Bill of Rights, you are entitled to at least three paid days off, which can be used for any purpose, after one year of work for the same employer.

You have the right to overtime pay at time and a half after 40 hours of work in a week (or 44 hours if you live in your employer’s home). You are also entitled to 24 hours of rest after seven days of work, or overtime pay if you agree to work on your rest day.

If you need time off to recover from a physical or mental illness or injury; seek medical diagnosis, treatment, or preventive care; or care for a family member who is ill or needs medical diagnosis, treatment, or preventive care, you may be eligible for paid or unpaid leave under New York State’s paid sick leave law. Learn more about this law on this website.

Under New York State’s Paid Family Leave Law (PFL), if you are a domestic worker hired directly by a private homeowner and if you work 20 or more hours a week for the private homeowner, you must be covered by PFL. You are eligible once you have been employed for 26 consecutive weeks.

In New York City

As a domestic worker in New York City, you may be eligible to take leave under New York City’s paid sick leave law. Read more about New York City’s paid sick-leave law on this page.

New York City employers with one or more domestic workers must provide up to 40 hours of paid leave per calendar year. Employers with 100 or more domestic workers must provide up to 56 hours of paid leave each calendar year.

If you work in New York City and have been unlawfully denied sick leave, or if you want more information:

You have the right to join a union

Federal law protects most workers’ right to join a union. Employers cannot retaliate against (punish) you for joining a union. If you join a union, your employer is required to bargain to negotiate conditions.

For more information, contact the National Labor Relations Board at 1-866-667-6572 or visit the National Labor Relations Board page.

You cannot be fired for missing work to attend jury duty

Jury duty is an important obligation of all citizens. If you notify your employer in advance that you must attend jury duty, your employer cannot fire you because of that absence. If you are fired because you missed work for jury duty, contact the jury commissioner for the county where you served.

Your employer may have to pay you a certain amount while you are serving jury duty

If your employer has only 10 or fewer employees, it does not have to pay you your full wages if you miss work for jury service. If your employer has 10 or more employees, it must pay you the first $40.00 of your daily wage for the first three days of jury service.

The state of New York will pay a jury fee of $40 per day for your jury service for any days that your employer does not pay you.