Labor & Employment: New York State Paid Family Leave (August 2017)

On January 1, 2018, New York State’s Paid Family Leave (“PFL”) program will take effect. Accordingly, employers should be informed about the law’s requirements, ensuring that they are prepared for the law’s implementation.

PFL: The Basics
The PFL program has been described by the State Workers’ Compensation Board as the “most robust” program in the country. PFL provides paid time off to employees for bonding with a child, family care and family issues arising from military service. The bonding with a child provision provides time off for both parents to bond with a child from birth, adoption or foster care.  The family care provision provides time off for an employee to care for a family member with a serious health condition. This applies to care for an employee’s spouse, domestic partner, child, parent, parent-in-law, grandparent or grandchild. These family members may live outside of New York State or the United States. The military service provision provides time off for an
employee to provide assistance to his or her family when a family member goes into active military service. The family member may be an employee’s spouse, child, domestic partner or parent.

How PFL is Funded
Employees will fully fund the program through a premium payment which employers may deduct from employees’ paychecks as early as July 1, 2017.  PFL will be included in New York State Disability Benefit insurance policies that employers purchase from a private carrier or the State insurance fund, although employers will have the option of purchasing a separate PFL plan.

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