New York’s sick leave requirement is one of the wage-and-hour protections covered in New York employment law. It comes from a single statute, N.Y. Labor Law § 196-b, which sets who must provide sick leave, how much, how it accrues, and what workers can use it for. This article walks through each of those rules and how the statewide floor interacts with local laws such as New York City’s.
Who the sick leave law covers
Coverage is broad. The statute reaches every private-sector employer in New York, and the amount of leave an employer must provide depends on its size and, for the smallest employers, its net income. Public employees are generally outside this law, and workers under a collective bargaining agreement can be covered by comparable negotiated terms instead.
Employer size is measured by the number of employees the business had during the calendar year, counting the period from January 1 through December 31. Under N.Y. Labor Law § 196-b, the tiers work like this:
- Employers with 100 or more employees provide up to 56 hours of paid sick leave per year
- Employers with 5 to 99 employees provide up to 40 hours of paid sick leave per year
- Employers with 4 or fewer employees and net income over $1 million in the previous tax year provide up to 40 hours of paid sick leave per year
- Employers with 4 or fewer employees and net income of $1 million or less provide up to 40 hours of unpaid sick leave per year
Every worker counts toward the size tiers, including part-time and seasonal employees. The New York Attorney General’s overview of workers’ rights describes the sick leave law alongside the state’s other wage protections.
How much leave you get and how it accrues
Sick leave builds up as an employee works. Under N.Y. Labor Law § 196-b, leave accrues at a rate of no less than one hour for every 30 hours worked, starting when employment begins. The statewide accrual requirement took effect September 30, 2020, so hours worked from that date forward count.
An employer has two ways to provide the leave. It can let leave accrue hour by hour, or it can grant the full annual amount at the start of the calendar year. An employer that frontloads the full 40 or 56 hours cannot later reduce or revoke that leave based on how many hours the employee actually works during the year.
Unused leave does not disappear at year’s end. N.Y. Labor Law § 196-b requires employers to carry over unused sick leave into the next calendar year. Carryover does not raise the annual cap: an employer with fewer than 100 employees may still limit use to 40 hours per year, and an employer with 100 or more may limit use to 56 hours per year. New York also does not require an employer to pay out unused sick leave when a worker leaves, which differs from wage replacement after a job ends entirely, where a worker who becomes unemployed can separately file for unemployment benefits.
What you can use sick leave for
The statute recognizes two broad categories of use, often called “sick” and “safe” leave. Both are available for the employee and for a family member the employee is caring for.
Sick uses under N.Y. Labor Law § 196-b include a mental or physical illness, injury, or health condition of the employee or a family member, whether or not it has been diagnosed; the diagnosis, care, or treatment of such a condition; and preventive medical care. The condition does not have to require a doctor’s visit for the leave to apply.
Safe uses cover absences connected to domestic violence, a family offense, a sexual offense, stalking, or human trafficking in which the employee or a family member is the victim. These include obtaining services from a shelter or crisis center, safety planning or relocating, meeting with an attorney or a district attorney’s office, filing a police complaint, and enrolling children in a new school.
For both categories, the statute defines “family member” broadly: an employee’s child, spouse, domestic partner, parent, sibling, grandchild, or grandparent, as well as the child or parent of the employee’s spouse or domestic partner. Parent and child both include step, foster, adoptive, and in loco parentis relationships.
How to request and use your leave
An employee requests sick leave from the employer, orally or in writing, and the employer must provide accrued leave for a covered reason. The process has a few fixed rules that apply statewide.
Ask for the leave
A request can be spoken or written. The law does not require a special form or advance notice for unforeseen needs, though an employer’s own policy may ask for reasonable notice when the need is predictable, such as a scheduled medical appointment.
Use leave in permitted increments
An employer may set a minimum increment for using sick leave, but that minimum cannot exceed 4 hours. Paid sick leave is paid at the employee’s regular rate of pay, or the applicable minimum wage, whichever is higher.
Keep medical details private
An employer cannot require an employee to disclose confidential information about the illness, injury, or health condition, or about a domestic violence or related absence, as a condition of granting the leave.
Return to the same job
After sick leave, the employer must restore the employee to the same position, with the same pay and terms of employment held before the leave.
An employee can also ask, orally or in writing, for a summary of sick leave accrued and used in the current or a prior calendar year, and the employer must provide it within three business days.
Paid prenatal leave and local sick leave rules
Two additions sit on top of the base sick leave entitlement. The first is statewide. Since January 1, 2025, N.Y. Labor Law § 196-b requires every employer to provide 20 hours of paid prenatal personal leave during any 52-week period, separate from and in addition to sick leave. It covers health care during pregnancy, including exams, procedures, monitoring, testing, and related discussions with a provider, and it can be taken in hourly increments.
The second addition is local. The statute lets a city with a population of one million or more set standards that meet or exceed the state minimums, which is why New York City has its own rules. Under New York City’s Earned Safe and Sick Time Act, now folded into the city’s Protected Time Off framework, most covered employees are entitled to up to 40 or 56 hours of paid leave, plus additional unpaid protected time and the city’s own paid prenatal leave, as explained by the NYC Department of Consumer and Worker Protection. A New York City worker is covered by whichever standard is more generous.
Frequently asked questions
Can my employer make me explain why I am using sick leave?
No. Under N.Y. Labor Law § 196-b, an employer cannot require an employee to disclose confidential details about the illness, injury, or health condition, or about a domestic violence or related absence, as a condition of granting leave. An employer’s policy can ask for reasonable notice of a foreseeable absence, but not for confidential medical information.
Can I be fired or disciplined for using sick leave?
The law prohibits an employer from discharging, threatening, penalizing, or otherwise retaliating against an employee for requesting or using sick leave. After leave, the employer must return the employee to the same position with the same pay and terms. A worker who believes an employer retaliated can file a complaint with the New York State Department of Labor.
Does unused sick leave get paid out when I leave a job?
No. New York does not require an employer to pay out unused sick leave upon termination, resignation, retirement, or other separation. Unused leave carries over from year to year during employment, but an employer can cap annual use at 40 or 56 hours depending on its size, and the balance is not cashed out at the end of the job.
How is the state sick leave law different from New York City’s?
The state law sets a floor that applies everywhere in New York. New York City has its own Earned Safe and Sick Time Act, part of its Protected Time Off framework, which adds unpaid protected time and other features on top of the paid hours. A New York City employee is covered by the more generous standard, so the two laws stack rather than compete.
Is paid sick leave the same as Paid Family Leave or layoff notice?
No, these are separate programs. Paid sick leave under N.Y. Labor Law § 196-b covers short absences for illness or safe-leave reasons. New York Paid Family Leave is a separate insurance benefit funded by payroll deductions for bonding with a new child or caring for a seriously ill relative. Advance notice before a large layoff comes from yet another statute, the New York WARN Act.