March 13, 2024

Employer Related Proposals in One House Budget Bills
Paid Prenatal Leave

• The Senate modifies the Executive proposal to provide 40 hours of paid family leave for employees to use on prenatal health to change the leave provided from paid family leave to personal leave.
• Assembly modifies the Executive proposal to include up to 40 hours of leave for prenatal care under Paid Family Leave. The Assembly proposal would instead explicitly include leave for prenatal care within employer-provided paid sick leave.

Short-Term Disability Leave Benefits

• Senate modifies the Executive proposal to increase short-term disability leave benefits by implementing a progressive benefit structure over a three-year period and amends employee contributions provided that in no case shall employee contributions exceed $2.20 per week. The Senate also temporarily exempts workers and employers covered by a current collective bargaining agreement (CBA) until the expiration of such agreement. Senate provides $35 million to support this proposal.
• Assembly modifies the Executive proposal to provide scheduled increases to the weekly and maximum weekly benefit rates for temporary disability leave. The Assembly proposal would implement a consistent benefit rate across all weeks of disability leave, accelerate the scheduled increases, and reduce the phase-in timeline by one year. The Assembly proposal would also remove the ability of the Superintendent of the Department of Financial Services to delay the scheduled increases, create greater flexibility in the increments of payable temporary disability leave that can be taken, and create a waiver to the scheduled increases for those subject to an existing collective bargaining agreement.

Paid Breaks for Milk Expression in the Workplace

• Senate modifies the Executive proposal to require paid breaks for breast milk expression in the workplace by increasing the paid break time from 20 minutes to 30 minutes.
• Assembly rejects Executive proposal to require employers to provide paid break time of up to 20 minutes for breast milk expression. 

NYS COVID-19 Sick Leave Law

• Senate modifies the Executive proposal to sunset the State’s COVID-19 Sick Leave law on July 31, 2024, by continuing such benefits for employees that work in facilities licensed under Article 28 of the Public Health Law.
• Assembly rejects the Executive proposal to sunset the State’s COVID-19 Sick Leave law on July 31, 2024.