NEW YORK’S PAID FAMILY LEAVE LAW

New York’s Paid Family Leave Law is now five years old. The law provides workers with job-protected, paid time off to care for a new child, a sick family member, to help the spouse, children or parents of someone who is on active military duty overseas, or to quarantine as the result of a COVID exposure.

Paid Family Leave benefits are payable for up to 12 weeks, and the benefit rate is two-thirds of your salary up to a maximum of $971.61 per week. Your salary is calculated based on the average of your earnings in the 8 weeks before the application is made.

Application forms are available at https://paidfamilyleave.ny.gov/. The employer’s insurer must either approve or deny an application for Paid Family Leave within 18 days. It’s important to be aware that if your application for Paid Family Leave is denied, then your job is not protected by the law (although it may be protected by another law, like the federal Family and Medical Leave Act).

Most applications for Paid Family Leave must include additional documentation to prove that your situation qualifies for coverage. What documents are needed depends on the reason for the application.