New York has a leave law called the Paid Family Leave (PFL) law, which provides job-protected leave and income replacement benefits for an employee’s parental, family care, or military exigency leave (i.e., assisting with family needs related to a family member’s overseas deployment).

New York also has a law called the New York Disability Benefits Law (NY DBL), which provides income replacement benefits when an employee requires leave for their own medical condition.  NY DBL does not provide job protection. Thus, there is no specific leave of absence law in New York that provides job protection for an employee’s own serious health condition.

Where an employee is eligible for both NY PFL and NY DBL, both of these laws will generally run concurrently with the federal FMLA. However, it is important to note that NY PFL and NY DBL will not run concurrently since DBL is applied to the disability portion of a leave concerning one’s own serious health condition, and PFL applies to a family leave.

Employers with New York employees are required to provide NY DBL and PFL pay benefits through an insured plan. This means insuring the benefits via a private insurance carrier or the New York Insurance Fund (https://ww3.nysif.com/). Employers can also apply with the NY Worker’s Compensation board to become a provider of self-insured benefits.   For those clients who provide insured benefits via an insurance carrier or the New York Insurance Fund, as part of our leave of absence service The Larkin Company will track New York leaves and advise employees on how to file for their New York pay benefits.  For our clients who have a self-insured DBL and PFL plan in place with The Larkin Company, we handle New York employee claims and provide the client’s payroll team with the amount to pay employees each pay period. If you are curious about the services we provide, such as our self-insured NY DBL and PFL service, please see here or contact your Client Success Manager.

This resource section provides information on how the benefits are made available to employees, for example, are the state pay benefits provided directly by the state or are employers required to provide the benefit via an insurance carrier, and/or may employers self-insure the benefit. Additionally, how are benefits funded, via contributions made by the employee or employer, or both, as well as providing information on state wage reporting requirements if applicable. Many states paid family leave programs require that employers submit employee wage reports for employees within the state. These reports are primarily used to assess an employee’s eligibility when they file for benefits.

The resource below also provides a summary of employer actions, including how to register with the state to remit contributions and submit wage reports if applicable, and by when contributions/wage reporting is due.

Some leave laws require that you notify your employees about their rights under the law, such as, by providing a prescribed notice to new hires, displaying a poster in the workplace, and/or including information about that leave law in your company handbook. Below you will find a summary of the requirements for each law.

Where the law requires that a leave poster/notice must be provided to the employee when they request leave, The Larkin Company will provide the applicable document within our introductory leave packets (see “Larkin Enclosures”within this resource).

Employers may be required to complete employer forms for certain state income replacement programs, so they must be prepared to look up employee information and respond within the given timelines. While the questions vary state by state, they are typically focused around four areas: leave dates, employment status, last day worked, and questions around pay. To answer these questions, employers typically look in multiple systems to complete the forms:

• Leave dates – clients can use our employer portal or email notifications to confirm dates;
• Demographics/employment status – this information is typically housed in our client’s HRIS;
• Last day worked – this information is typically housed in our client’s time & attendance system;
• Gross wages/last day paid – this information is typically housed in our client’s payroll system.

State Forms – Process

Since this process is complex, we thought it might be helpful for employers to know 1) when to expect the forms based on employees’ work state and 2) when proactive employee collaboration is required. The below information is for New York.

Also included, is information regarding: if you are required to register with the state’s website for the Employer Statements Process, how to register (if applicable), and how employers can check and employee’s claims status (if allowed by the state). 

State Website(s)

NY Paid Family Leave – NY PFL (Leave and Pay Law)
NY Disability Benefits Law – DBL (Pay Law)

State Law and Regulation(s)

NY PFL and DBL Law
NY DBL and PFL Regulations

Contribution Registration (Paid Leave)

No state registration – employers may collect NY PFL and DBL contributions, directly, to cover the cost of PFL and DBL insurance.  For more general information regarding contributions for this territory, please see here.

Employer Statement (Claim Process) Registration

NA – there is no employer state registration/portal for the NY claims process (please check with your carrier). For more general information regarding the paid leave employer statement process for this state, please see here.