Employers in New York City should prepare now for upcoming changes to the city’s rules on unpaid sick leave, McGuireWoods Baltimore partner Adam Simons told Law360 in a Feb. 13, 2026, story.
Starting Feb. 22, workers in the city can take up to 32 hours of unpaid leave, and those hours are available immediately upon hire, Law360 reported.
Simons, whose practice focuses on management-side employment and business litigation, told Law360 that because those hours are available right away, companies will need to take extra care when incorporating them into their existing leave policies and train managers to ensure that leave is used for its intended purposes.
“It creates a more unique scenario for employers, as opposed to just, ‘OK, we need to use our paid time off policy and modify it so that everyone can use it for these circumstances,’” Simons said. “Very few employers are giving both full-time and part-time employees 32 hours of unpaid leave right off the bat.”