New York City has officially expanded its landmark Earned Sick and Safe Time Act! The update was approved by the City Council in late September and officially became law at the end of October.
Starting February 22, 2026, New Yorkers will be able to use their rights to paid sick time for more purposes, including:
- When they need time off to care for a child or a loved one with a disability
- When their workplace, or their child’s school or daycare, is closed due to a public emergency or natural disaster
- To recover from, or care for a loved one who is recovering from experiencing violence in the workplace
- And to manage or attend housing- and benefits-related legal proceedings.
Under this expansion, workers will also receive an additional 32 hours of unpaid, job-protected sick time immediately upon hire and on the first day of each calendar year. This change to the law will help to guarantee these protections for New Yorkers who may not have previously been able to access paid sick leave due to the law’s accrual requirements and waiting period. As we shared with the New York City Council in our testimony on the bill, we regularly speak with NYC-based callers on our legal helpline who are new to their jobs and have no recourse when unexpected illnesses strike, or when their children or dependents face unanticipated medical needs. Workers should not be one emergency away from losing their jobs, and this expansion will provide an important, minimum baseline of unpaid, job-protected sick time while they are accruing paid sick time under the law.
New York City first passed its paid sick time law in 2013, and we at A Better Balance led the coalition of organizations that fought to make the city one of the earliest and largest jurisdictions to guarantee workers the right to paid time off when they or a family member is sick. Under the current law, employers in the city must provide up to 40 or 56 hours of paid sick time for workers who need time off due to illness, caring for a sick child, certain public emergencies, as well as for absences related to domestic violence, stalking, or assault. We have been proud to help expand the law numerous times since it was first passed.
This newest expansion to the city’s law will provide new protections to workers and ensure that New Yorkers can attend to their real-life needs – be it caregiving, staying safe from extreme weather and other emergencies, or keeping their housing and benefits intact – without being forced to miss a day’s pay.
This expansion also models how localities can protect their communities’ economic wellbeing and promote public health and safety by providing their workforce with paid time off work to deal with urgent needs. We applaud New York City for taking this step, and will continue to push for paid sick time progress across the country, at every level of government.