Courtesy Hodgson Russ
By Noreen DeWire Grimmick, Esq.
An important piece of new legislation was executed by Gov. Andrew Cuomo in April 2016 providing paid family leave.
Paid leave will be phased in over a 4 year period beginning in Jan. 1, 2018. To be eligible, employees must work a minimum 26 consecutive weeks prior to applying for paid leave.
Paid leave may be taken to provide care to a family member suffering from a serious health issue; to bond with a child during the first 12 months after birth, adoption, or foster care placement; or to attend to obligations because a spouse, parent, or child is on active duty or has been notified of a pending call into active duty in the U.S. armed forces.
Notably, this law does not provide coverage for an employee’s own serious health condition, but that event would likely trigger already existing disability insurance coverage and is, of of course, subject to FMLA under federal law.
Phasing in of these new regulations begins in 2018. Employees who qualify for paid leave under the act will be entitled to 50 percent of their pay (with a pay cap equal to 50 percent of the statewide weekly average pay) for a period of 8 weeks. When fully phased in, in 2021, eligible employees will be entitled to 12 weeks of paid leave at 67 percent of their weekly pay (capped at 67 percent of the statewide average weekly pay).
Intermittent paid family leave is also available under the new law.
This legislation will impact more employers in New York state than the FMLA. All employers who fall under the scope of the state Workers Compensation Law will be obligated to provide paid family leave. New York employers may either self-insure for paid leave, or they may purchase an insurance policy from their disability benefits carrier to finance paid leave. This program is financed similarly to the way that workers’ compensation benefits and disability benefits are financed, through payroll deductions.
By Eric Snell
