New York Legislature Amends Paid Family Leave Act

On June 20, 2018, the New York legislature overwhelmingly passed a bill to give employees up to 12 weeks of partially paid bereavement leave. The bill will still require the approval of Governor Andrew Cuomo. The bill expands the Paid Family Leave Act (the “Act”), which went into effect on January 1, 2018. The Act already provided employees up to 12 weeks of leave paid at a percentage of their salaries for situations including child birth or adoption, a qualifying exigency arising out of a family member’s military service, or the need to care for a sick relative. The Act covers the care of a spouse or domestic partner, child, parent, parent-in-law, grandparent, or grandchild, by blood or marriage. The recent amendment was passed in an effort to explicitly clarify the legislative intent that bereavement leave for the death of such relative would be covered by the Act as well.

The original Act guarantees an employee the same or comparable job when they return from leave, and bars employers from cutting off health insurance. While employees with planned births or adoptions are required to provide 30 days’ notice under the Act, the bereavement amendment will permit employees to give notice “as soon as practicable.” Employees eligible for leave under this amendment will be required to provide a death certificate.

While some employers are concerned that the bill will impose hardship on small businesses, the New York State Assembly justifies the amendment because “[g]rief-related losses cost U.S. companies as much as $75 billion annually.” As such, the legislature purports that the amendment will result in “greater employee loyalty, better outcomes, better quality of life for that person, and an overall healthier workforce that has been given the necessary time to mourn their loss.” The bill is sponsored by State Senator Rich Funke, who suffered the sudden loss of his adult son. If the bill is signed by Governor Cuomo, New York will offer the most generous bereavement leave benefits in the country.

For more information on what your company can do to ensure compliance with New York or New York City employee benefits laws, please contact John C. Petrella, Esq., Chair of the firm’s Employment Litigation Practice Group, at jpetrella@genovaburns.com, or Dina M. Mastellone, Esq., Chair of the firm’s Human Resources Practice Group, at dmastellone@genovaburns.com, or 973-533-0777.