New York City has amended its Earned Safe and Sick Time Act (the Law) to provide new forms of leave and update existing leave requirements. Legislative changes to the Law took effect in February 2026, and the City issued rules on July 23, 2026, clarifying the new provisions. The City now refers to the Law as the Protected Time Off Law.
One of the most significant changes to the Law is that employers must now provide 32 hours of unpaid protected time off to virtually all employees. Under this new provision, employers must make this leave available in full immediately, either on the first day of employment or the first day of the new calendar year, as applicable. Employees do not accrue this time; instead, the full amount is front-loaded. This unpaid leave constitutes a separate leave bank from paid safe and sick leave.
When an employee has both paid and unpaid leave time available for a particular type of leave, employers may first apply paid leave, unless the employee specifically… Read the complete article here...
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