Workplace Laws

Information for Employers on Protected Time Off

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NYC's Protected Time Off Law

Under NYC’s Protected Time Off (PTO) Law, covered employees have the right to protected time off and paid prenatal leave.

  • Most employees have a right to up to 40 or 56 hours of paid protected time off per year.
  • Employees also have 32 hours of unpaid protected time off from the beginning of employment.
  • Employees can take protected time off for many reasons, including childcare, illness, medical appointments, and more.
  • Employers must provide 20 hours of paid prenatal leave in addition to protected time off.

Employers must provide the written notice of protected time off rights to employees in their primary languages when they begin employment or when their rights change. See the Notice of Employee Rights: Protected Time Off page to download the notice in 28 languages.

If you have questions, read our FAQ or ask a question online.

Right to Request a Temporary Schedule Change  

Employees have a protected right to request temporary schedule changes including: 

  • changing the time or location of their work shift,
  • working remotely, or
  • swapping shifts with another employee

Employers may deny requests for a temporary schedule change, but they cannot retaliate against employees for making requests.

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Important Information for Employers

Employers, including a nonprofit or small business, must provide safe and sick leave and paid prenatal leave for their employees.

Employers must distribute the Notice of Employee Rights (02/2026) and the Workers' Bill of Rights (02/2026) to their employees.

Read Rules for Protected Time Off Polices (02/2026)

Read Protected Time Off: Frequently Asked Questions (02/2026)


Employer Tools

Model Form - Employee Confirmation of Use of Protected Time Off or Paid Prenatal Leave
Under New York City's Earned Safe and Sick Time Act (Protected Time Off Law), employers are permitted to ask employees to confirm that an instance of protected time off or paid prenatal leave of any length was used for an authorized purpose under the law. Download the model form in: English | Español (Spanish)

Model Form - Employee Notification of Use of Protected Time Off or Paid Prenatal Leave
Employers can require employees to sign a form if they want to use protected time off for a foreseeable need or paid prenatal leave. Download the model form in: English | Español (Spanish)

Model Form - Employee Request to Make up Missed Work as Alternative to Using Protected Time Off or Paid Prenatal Leave
Making up missed hours or swapping shifts cannot be required and is only allowed if both the employer and employee consent. Employers can require employees to sign a form if they want to work additional hours instead of using their protected time off or paid prenatal leave. Download the model form in: English | Español (Spanish)

Protected Time Off Usage Compliance Tracker
DCWP developed a tool to help employers regularly review their employees' Protected Time Off usage rates in their industries. Employers with below average usage rates should evaluate their Protected Time Off policies and practices to identify and correct violations that may be contributing to low use rates. Download the Protected Time Off Usage Compliance Tracker (in xlsm).

For information about common violations and how to correct them, see Recommendations for Employers on page 14 of DCWP's report, Benchmarks for Evaluating Compliance with NYC's Protected Time Off Law.


Law and Rules

New York City Administrative Code > Title 20: Consumer and Worker Protection > Chapter 8: Earned Safe and Sick Time Act

Rules of the City of New York > Title 6: Department of Consumer and Worker Protection > Chapter 7: Office of Labor Policy and Standards > Subchapter B: Earned Safe and Sick Time

Retaliation and Interference are Against the Law
You are prohibited from interfering with investigations or retaliating against employees who exercise their rights under the Protected Time Off Law. DCWP takes allegations of retaliation very seriously. If we determine that you retaliated against an employee, you may be responsible not only for lost wages and benefits to the employee and fines to DCWP, but also may be required to take certain actions, including the rehire of an employee who has been unlawfully terminated.



Questions?

Have questions about NYC's Protected Time Off Law? Contact DCWP in one of the following ways: