New York City employers will need to redesign policies and update systems and training to comply with significant changes the city made to a cornerstone workplace regime: the Earned Safe and Sick Time Act (ESSTA). The ESSTA amendments expand employee entitlements, add covered uses and codify paid prenatal leave, while simultaneously scaling back the Temporary Schedule Change Act (TSCA).
New Unpaid Bank, Expanded Uses, Prenatal Leave
Effective Feb. 22, 2026, employers must frontload at least 32 hours of unpaid ESSTA leave upon hire and on the first day of each calendar year. This unpaid ESSTA leave is in addition to existing paid ESSTA leave accruals that apply to all employees (one hour of safe/sick leave for every 30 hours worked up to 40 or 56 hours, depending on employer size). The unpaid ESSTA leave must be made available for immediate use with no waiting period. Employers may, however, set a reasonable minimum usage increment of up to four hours per day and do not need to make unused unpaid ESSTA leave available for carryover to the next year.
In addition to adding more ESSTA leave, the amended law broadens covered uses for paid and unpaid ESSTA. Under the amended law, employees may now use sick and safe leave for:
- Public disasters causing the closure of the employee’s workplace, the need for the employee to care for a child whose school or childcare provider is closed or has been restricted in its in-person operations, or a direction by a public official to remain indoors or avoid travel.
- Providing care for a minor child, family member or other person residing in the employee’s home who has a disability and relies on the employee for medical care or to meet the needs of daily living.
- Participating in legal proceedings or taking other specified actions related to subsistence benefits or housing for the employee, the employee’s family member or a care recipient who is a victim of certain criminal offenses, which now include workplace violence.
The city also codified the separate bank of 20 hours of paid prenatal leave during any 52‑week period, similar to state law. As defined, “paid prenatal leave” is available for any healthcare services received by the employee during their pregnancy. Employers may set a reasonable minimum increment of one hour per day.
To align with the updated requirements of the ESSTA, which expanded the covered uses for paid and unpaid leave, the city also amended TSCA to no longer guarantee two temporary schedule changes per year. Employees may still request temporary schedule changes, but employers are not obligated to grant them. However, employers still must respond, and the anti-retaliation provisions of the TSCA remain intact.
Practical Implications and Next Steps
For New York City employers, the changes necessitate policy redesign, systems updates and training by Feb. 22, 2026. The new unpaid ESSTA bank must be integrated into leave policies, accrual and usage disclosures, and payroll reporting. Employers may use other forms of paid leave to satisfy the leave under the ESSTA, and they should take steps to review their leave accruals to ensure compliance. Additionally, paid prenatal leave must be included as a distinct bank with separate tracking. Managers should be trained on the expanded covered uses — especially caregiving and public disaster scenarios — to ensure consistent, compliant approvals and documentation.
Early planning such as policy updates, systems mapping and training will mitigate operational risk and position employers for compliance as obligations roll out citywide. For questions about compliance with the expanded sick and safe leave policies or pay data requirements, contact the authors, your McGuireWoods contact or a member of the firm’s Wage & Hour/Collective Class Action Practice Group within its labor & employment team.