ALBANY, NY (New York Law Journal) — New York’s first-in-the-nation prenatal paid family leave law takes effect as the ball drops in Times Square on Jan. 1, requiring employers to provide pregnant workers with up to 20 stand-alone hours of paid leave.
Employment lawyers agree that it’ll be a significant requirement.
Not only is the requirement separate from New York’s sick leave law, but it also stands apart from any other pregnancy accommodations under federal, state and city law, and any other leave an employee might have, said Galler, a past chair of the New York State Bar Association’s Labor and Employment Law and Women in Law sections.
“Medical care and prenatal care before one gives birth is extremely important and very much determines the health of the child and how childbirth goes,” Pearson said. “Too often, I hear from potential clients and clients that they were working—literally—right up until they were in the delivery room, and even in the delivery room and immediately after. It’s an important law that addresses the need for prenatal care. It really helps employers, too, by defining what they ought to be doing for their employees who are pregnant.”
Smith said she found it surprising that the prenatal care leave law will apply uniformly to all companies, regardless of size, unlike the tiers that were established in New York’s sick leave law.
