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New York’s New Prenatal Leave Law: What You Need to Know

In 2025, New York became the first U.S. state to mandate paid leave for prenatal medical appointments. Learn what you need to know for your company’s leave policies.

Blog Author - Mary Gormandy White
Mary Gormandy White
Jan 22, 20254 minutes
Blog Author - Mary Gormandy White
Mary Gormandy White

Mary is a certified HR professional (SHRM-SCP and SPHR) who works as a corporate trainer, speaker, writer, and college professor. Her areas of expertise include HR, management, communication, and entrepreneurship.

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Table of Contents

Extending Existing New York Leave Requirements

Examples of Covered Prenatal Appointments

Does The Law Apply to Post-Pregnancy Care?

Who Is Not Covered?

Important Timeframe Considerations

Key Compliance Obligation for New York Employers

Effectively Navigate New Regulations With Justworks

In January 2025, New York became the first U.S. state to mandate paid leave for prenatal medical appointments. The New York State Paid Prenatal Leave Law (“Prenatal Leave Law”), specified in Section 196-B of New York State Labor Law, requires all private-sector employers to provide employees with 20 hours of Paid Prenatal Leave in a 52-week period. Under the Prenatal Leave Law, the 52-week period begins on the date prenatal leave is first recorded on an employee’s timesheet. Prenatal leave does not accrue. Employees are entitled to prenatal leave regardless of their tenure, part-time status, and overtime exemption status.

Extending Existing New York Leave Requirements

The Prenatal Leave Law is not the Empire State’s only state-specific leave requirement. However, this law requires employers to provide paid prenatal leave to employees who qualify in addition to (not concurrent with) any other leave options for which they may be eligible. Employees must be compensated at their regular rate of pay or the applicable minimum wage, whichever is greater, during this leave. 

Before this law was passed, New York state already required certain employers to provide paid or unpaid sick leave, depending on employer size. The state also has a comprehensive Paid Family Leave (PFL) program, which has been in place since 2018. Additionally, New York employers must also comply with the federal Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA).  An employer cannot dictate to an employee what kind of leave to take. If you have an employee who is eligible for leave under multiple laws, the decision regarding what type of leave to take is up to the employee. 

Examples of Covered Prenatal Appointments

Only employees who are directly receiving prenatal care are eligible for leave under the New York State Paid Prenatal Leave Law. It’s important to realize that covered appointments are not necessarily limited to medical visits for those who are pregnant. Examples of health care services that qualify for paid leave under this law include:  

  • Testing

  • Physical exams

  • Monitoring 

  • Medical procedures

  • End-of-pregnancy treatment 

  • Fertility treatment

Qualifying prenatal leave also includes appointments with  health care providers to discuss actions necessary to help ensure a healthy pregnancy. 

Does The Law Apply to Post-Pregnancy Care? 

Medical appointments that take place after pregnancy, such as follow-up care after a miscarriage, are not covered under the Prenatal Leave Law. However, an employee in this situation may be entitled to paid or unpaid time off under New York’s sick leave law or unpaid time off under the federal Family Medical Leave Act.  

Who Is Not Covered?

The Prenatal Leave Law applies only to employees who are directly receiving prenatal care. Because of this, paid prenatal leave does not apply to spouses, partners, family members, or others seeking to support the person receiving prenatal care. However, New York’s Paid Family Leave program may apply to such individuals, depending on the reason provided by the employee requesting such leave. 

Important Timeframe Considerations

If you are a New York employer, there are a number of important timeframe requirements associated with this law that you should be aware of, including: 

  • Standard leave notification – Employees should follow their employer's ordinary leave request notification procedures when taking Paid Prenatal Leave. Employers are required to allow eligible employees to take requested prenatal leave until they exhaust their yearly entitlement.  

  • Year based on actual usage – Eligible employees are entitled to up to 20 hours of Paid Prenatal leave in a 52-week period that starts when they first take this type of leave and ends 52 weeks later. 

  • No carryover of prenatal leave – An employee is limited to 20 hours within a 52-week period. Unused leave does not carry over from previous years or carry forward into the next year. 

  • Leave increments – An employer must allow employees to take prenatal leave in hourly increments. It is not acceptable to require employees to take a full or half day if that amount of time is not needed for their qualifying appointment. 

New York employers should track and keep records of each employee's prenatal leave so there is no question about how much of this type of leave an employee has available, when they have exhausted their entitlement, and when they will be eligible for further prenatal leave. Employers are not required to pay out any unused prenatal leave upon employment separation

Key Compliance Obligation for New York Employers

If you are a private-sector employer in the state of New York, it’s critical for you to be aware of this law and to adapt your organization’s policies and procedures to ensure compliance. Not only is it important for you to grant paid prenatal leave to employees who are eligible, but it’s also essential to ensure that employees who exercise their rights under the Prenatal Leave Law do not experience discrimination or retaliation for doing so. Employers cannot require employees to disclose confidential medical information as a condition for granting this leave.

Effectively Navigate New Regulations With Justworks 

New York isn’t the only state with multiple state-specific leave requirements or that has recently introduced new employment laws. Federal employment law is also evolving. Whether you're a manager, HR professional, or an established small business owner, keeping up with the ever-changing state-specific and federal compliance landscape can feel overwhelming. Fortunately, this is an area where Justworks really shines. 

We’re here to provide the HR and compliance support you need so that you can focus on building and managing your business. Justworks is committed to providing our customers with simple, modern HR software and solutions that encompass onboarding, payroll, and benefits administration. We supplement these robust tools with compliance support to assist you in navigating the regulatory environment, whether your company is based in New York or elsewhere. Justworks is here to help you, wherever your business operates. Find out how to get started with us.

This material has been prepared for informational purposes only, and is not intended to provide, and should not be relied on for, legal or tax advice. If you have any legal or tax questions regarding this content or related issues, then you should consult with your professional legal or tax advisor.
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Written By
Blog Author - Mary Gormandy White
Mary Gormandy White
Jan 22, 20254 minutes

Mary is a certified HR professional (SHRM-SCP and SPHR) who works as a corporate trainer, speaker, writer, and college professor. Her areas of expertise include HR, management, communication, and entrepreneurship.

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