New York state recently implemented the Paid Prenatal Leave Law, making it the first state in America to provide paid leave for prenatal care. This law requires private employers to offer pregnant employees, whether full- or part-time, up to 20 hours of paid leave within a 52-week period. This leave is scheduled separately from the state’s 2020 Paid Sick Leave law, which mandates between 40 to 56 hours of paid leave annually, depending on the employer’s size.

The new law aims to assist approximately 130,000 eligible pregnant women every year, of which nearly half are hourly employees. While some believe that this law may reduce maternal mortality rates and pregnancy complications, concerns are rife among business groups regarding the potential financial burden it could impose, especially considering the coincidence with the state’s increase in minimum wage.

The Paid Prenatal Leave Law allows pregnant employees and those seeking fertility treatments to benefit from the leave allowance without providing advanced notice. Partners or spouses of pregnant workers are not eligible.

The law’s application extends to all private employers in New York state, regardless of their total number of employees. Such employers need to maintain the employees’ usual wages when they are on prenatal leave.

Should the employers fail to comply, they could face penalties in line with state labor laws, ranging from liquidated damages to civil punishments.

One major consideration of the law is the lack of a requirement for employees to provide advanced notice for the use of prenatal leave, which could prove disruptive to employers. They are also limited in what they can request to confirm that the leave is used for prenatal care, as the law forbids employers from seeking workers’ confidential information about their prenatal visits or medical records as an eligibility condition for the leave.

In light of the recent amendments to the law, those seeking additional information may reach out to their respective Department of Labor. If needing to understand the process of contacting Paid Family Leave support, a helpful guide is provided on eddcaller.com, which outlines the most effective methods of reaching out to PFL representatives.