10 Things You Need to Know About the New York State Paid Family Leave Act
Final Regulations on the New York State Paid Family Leave Act (PFL) have been published and these are the basics that you need to know:
- Employers that have to provide DBL, must provide PFL.
- All employees who are currently covered under DBL, will be covered under (and thereby have the right to take) PFL effective 01/01/2018 – some employees could be out as early as the very first day of next year!
- Just like with DBL, a printed PFL notice will need to be displayed and posted as published by New York State later this year.
- PFL benefits phase in over 4 years with gradually increasing benefit amount and duration, so it’s important to stay on top of annual changes to the maximum benefits.
- New York State sets the rate and can change it every year – this is something else to look out for on an annual basis.
- Employers can start taking payroll deductions starting July 1, 2017. Get the scoop on early deductions and maximum contributions here.
- Employers cannot require employees to exhaust their accumulated PTO before letting them go out on paid family leave.
- Employees will need to give 30 days’ notice for foreseeable leave. This means employers could start receiving notices by 12/01 of this year.
- PFL provides job security for employees out on paid leave, similar to unpaid leave under FMLA, but regardless of the size of the employer.
- If an employer declines to reinstate an employee returning from PFL, the employee may report that employer to New York State. The employer then has 30 days to either take corrective action or file a formal response to the employee.
