January 16, 2024

More exec budget proposal info:

1)  From our government relations consultants at RMS, featuring the fabulous Marcy Savage on the topic of Employee Benefit Changes proposed in the budget – see below

2)  A chart that takes apart the Article VII executive budget bill with notations for each proposal.  

1/16/2024 – from RMS:

Employee Benefit Changes – SFY 2025 Executive Budget Proposals (Prenatal Leave, Short Term Disability, Paid Breaks for Breast Milk Expression and Sunset Covid Sick Leave:

Establish First-in-Nation Paid Prenatal Leave :  This bill would provide eligible pregnant employees the ability to take up to 40 additional hours of leave for prenatal medical appointments in addition to New York’s current 12 weeks of Paid Family Leave. Leave for prenatal visits could be taken in hourly increments. 

Increase Short-Term Disability Leave Benefits:  The maximum paid benefit available to New Yorkers who need time off from work to address their own health needs, including for any pregnancy-related conditions, has been capped at $170/week since 1989. Adjusting for inflation, $170 today was worth approximately $69 in 1989. The benefit today is worth less than half of what it was worth when the cap was set.   This bill would increase the maximum weekly payment for eligible employees on short term disability from $170 to two-thirds of an employee’s average weekly wage, capped at two-thirds of the Statewide Average Weekly Wage (SAWW) by 2029 for the first twelve weeks of disability. Thereafter the benefit would be capped at $280 weekly for weeks thirteen through twenty-six. The increase to the weekly benefit would roll out in annual increments, starting at half of an employee’s average weekly wage in 2025, capped at $400, and ending at two-thirds of the SAWW by 2029. The bill would provide a more robust benefit for New Yorkers to take leave for their own medical needs, and tying the benefit to the SAWW ensures the weekly payments would keep pace with wage growth over time. 

Require Paid Breaks for Breast Milk Expression in the Workplace: This bill would require paid break time up to 20 minutes for breast milk expression.

Sunset the State’s COVID-19 Sick Leave Law:  This bill would sunset the State’s COVID-19 Sick Leave Law.  Summary of Provisions and Statement in Support:  Chapter 25 of the Laws of 2020 enacted the State’s COVID-19 Sick Leave Law, which required employers to provide sick leave benefits, paid family leave, and benefits due to disability for employees subject to a mandatory or precautionary order of quarantine or isolation due to COVID-19. New York’s nation-leading paid sick leave laws provide all New Yorkers with sick leave protections, regardless of which illness they are experiencing. As the federal COVID-19 state of emergency has concluded, it would be prudent for this COVID-19 sick leave initiative to conclude as well.    The bill would sunset the State’s COVID-19 Sick Leave Law as of July 31, 2024.