What Forms Do I Need To Submit And To Whom
To receive PFL benefits, you must complete the appropriate Request for Paid Family Leave Form and provide the necessary documentation. Your college HR Office should provide you the forms and instructions for applying to the insurance carrier that will pay your wage-replacement benefit. If you work at a community college, your benefit will be paid while on PFL by MetLife, through its service-provider AbSolve. If you work at a senior college, your benefit will be paid by The Standard Insurance Company. Employees who work at both a senior college and a community college should apply separately to both AbSolve and the Standard to receive 67% of the average weekly wage they receive from each college. The employee, not the college, is responsible for submission of all necessary forms and documentation to the appropriate insurance carrier.
New York State Paid Family Leave Program: What Small Businesses Need To Know
New York has established a paid family leave insurance program that will enable workers to take up to 12 weeks of paid time away from work in order to care for a loved one or bond with a new child. The New York State Paid Family Leave Program is funded by modest employee contributions, and employees who take leave will be guaranteed job protection.
This document is intended to answer any questions small employers in New York might have about the program and its effects on small business owners and their employees.
Who Is Eligible For Pfl
Paid Family Leave is available to both full-time and part-time CUNY employees represented by the PSC who meet specific requirements. Citizenship and immigration status are not factors in eligibility. The vast majority of PSC-represented employees have already achieved eligibility because of how long they have worked at CUNY.
- Teaching Adjuncts and Graduate Assistants are eligible once they have completed 26 weeks of employment. For teaching adjuncts, each week worked counts as a week for purposes of establishing the 26 weeks of employment, regardless of how many contact teaching hours the adjunct teaches per week.
- Faculty and professional staff working 20 hours or more per week are eligible after 26 consecutive weeks of employment. Breaks between semesters during which the employee remains on payroll are counted toward the 26 consecutive weeks of employment.
- Faculty and professional staff working fewer than 20 hours per week are eligible after 175 days of employment. A workday includes any day that the employee is scheduled to work.
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What Are The Ny Pfl Premium Rates For 2021
NY PFL requires employers with New York employees to purchase NY PFL insurance, which provides employees with NY PFL benefits. Employers can either pay for the insurance or they may deduct a premium rate from employees gross wages to fund the insurance premium set annually by DFS. For 2021 the premium rate has increased, meaning that an employees maximum annual contribution will increase. In 2021 employers can deduct up to 0.511% of employees gross wages, up to an annual cap of $385.34, to fund NY PFL insurance. Employers may start taking deductions at the 2021 rate on January 1, 2021.
Use Of Ny Family Leave:
Beginning January 1, 2018, employees may use paid family leave:
- To care for a family member with a serious health condition
- To bond with the employees child during the first 12 months after the childs birth or after the placement of the child for adoption or foster care or
- Because of any qualifying exigency arising out of the fact that the spouse, domestic partner, child, or parent of the employee is on active duty in the armed forces of the United States.
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Returning To Work After Pregnancy Or Parenting Leave
When your leave is over, you have the right, under both the FMLA and New York’s paid family leave law, to be reinstated to your job. During your time off, you have the right to continue your health insurance you must, however, continue to pay any share of the premium you would have had to pay if you were working.
What Effects Will Pfl Have On Businesses
- Based on the experience of businesses in California and other states that have implemented paid leave programs, PFL has proven it does not have a significant effect on businesses. The program is entirely funded by employees employers do not have to pay employees salaries while they are on leave.
- A recent poll conducted for Small Business Majority found a majority of small businesses already have some type of policyformal or informalin place when it comes to family medical leavetime an employee would take to care for a family member with a serious illness or caregiving need. More than 7 in 10 small business owners have either a formal written policy, a consistent but not written policy or informal policy provided on a case-by-case basis to provide family medical leave. Of the small business owners who do offer family medical leave, 61% offer full or partial pay and 22% offer pay depending on the employee.
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Family And Medical Leave
The federal Family Medical Leave Act gives eligible employees the right to take up to 12 weeks off work in a one-year period for pregnancy and parenting leave . If you qualify, you can use the FMLA to take time off when you are unable to work because of your pregnancy and childbirth. You can also take FMLA leave for prenatal care, including routine check-ups and doctor visits.
How Is This Paid For
The program is funded through small payroll contributions from employees, which are used to pay your employers NYPFL insurance premium. This deduction isnt optional, so youll be paying as long as you remain employed with a covered employer. Its kind of like health insurance even though you may not need to use it, it’s there when you are ready to start your family or care for a loved one.
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Who Is A Covered Employee For Ny Pfl
- Covered employees are employees who are “employed” in New York State and are either working for a covered employer and don’t fall into an excluded class or are working for an employer who voluntarily provides PFL coverage. Participation in the NY PFL program is not optional for covered employees. However, some employees, based on their class of employment may be exempt from coverage. For more details on exempt employment, visit .
- In addition, some employees may be eligible to waive coverage due to an inability to satisfy the eligibility requirement based on their employment status. For more information on Opting Out and waiver form, visit
Fully Funded By Employees
New York Paid Family Leave is insurance that may be funded by employees through payroll deductions. In 2021, the contribution is 0.511% of an employees gross wages each pay period. The maximum annual contribution is $385.34.
Employees earning less than the current Statewide Average Weekly Wage of $1,450.17 will contribute less than the annual cap of $385.34, consistent with their actual wages.
Here are some contribution and benefit examples at different income levels:
For more information or assistance on Paid Family Leave for 2021, check out the frequently asked questions and employer resources, below. You can also call the Paid Family Leave Helpline at 844.337.6303 from 8:30am to 4:30pm, Monday through Friday.
Next Section
What is the maximum weekly benefit in 2021?The maximum weekly benefit for 2021 is $971.61.
Next Section
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Impact On Business Of Growing Interest In Paid Family And Medical Leave
First, its helpful to understand the difference between two similar, related terms: short-term disability and the Family and Medical Leave Act:
- Short-Term Disability Insurance: This benefit pays an injured employee compensation or income replacement for a non-job-related injury or illness when they are unable to work for a limited time. Many employers offer short-term disability insurance to their employees. Five states California, Hawaii, New Jersey, New York, and Rhode Island mandate that employers offer the coverage. One benefit to employers who provide short-term disability insurance is the federal tax deduction they get.
- Family and Medical Leave Act : This federal law requires employers to guarantee employees up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave for certain family or medical reasons. Employers also must offer employees who take FMLA leave a job when they return to work though not necessarily the same job with comparable pay and benefits. Companies with fewer than 50 employees are exempt from the law. Employees are eligible if they have worked for the employer for 12+ months, and at least 1250 hours over the past 12 months, and work at a location that employs 50 or more employees within 75 miles. There are also special rules applied to military family leave.
Paid Family and Medical Leave
The Future of PFML
New York Paid Family Leave Faqs
What is New York Paid Family Leave ?
The New York State PFL law was passed by the state of New York in April 2016. It provides employees working in New York with job-protected paid leave to bond with a new child, care for a family members serious health condition, or deal with qualifying military exigencies. PFL doesnt provide leave or wage replacement benefits for the employees own health condition. Qualifying leaves under New York PFL may or may not qualify under the federal Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993, which requires only unpaid leaves of absence.
When did New York PFL benefits take effect?
Who does the New York PFL law apply to?
The law applies to all private employers with employeesemployedin the state of New Yorkregardless of where the employer is located or where the employee lives. “Employment” includes work performed in the state of New York and certain work performed outside of New York as long as the:
- Services are localized to New York
- The base of operations is in New York or
- Services are directed and controlled from New York.
Further, if an employee performs work in New York and any other state, but the base of operations or place from which such services are directed or controlled is neither New York nor any of the states in which the employee performs services, the employee will be considered a New York employee if he or she resides in New York.
Can an employee be covered for New York PFL through more than one employer?
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New York Employee Or Out
- An employee who works from their home in New York is considered a New York employee even if the employer is located outside of New York State.
- An employee who lives in New York but works outside of New York is not considered a New York employee if the employer is located outside of New York.
- An employee that is required to travel occasionally into New York to perform duties, such as a salesperson, will not be considered a New York employee unless the employer is based in New York.
New York Law Provides Disability Benefits For Pregnant Employees And The State’s New Paid Family Leave Law Provides Benefits For New Parents Too
By Lisa Guerin, J.D.
Legally speaking, maternity or parental leave has two parts: the time you take off while you are unable to work due to pregnancy and the physical experience of childbirth, and the time you take off to spend with your new child. For the first part, pregnancy disability leave, New York is one of a small handful of states that gives employees the right to time off that is paid through insurance. For the second part, New Yorkers benefit from two state laws that give them the right to be paid part of their usual wages when they take time off work for pregnancy and for parental leave.
In addition, the federal Family Medical Leave Act gives employees in all states the right to take unpaid leave for these reasons. The federal Pregnancy Discrimination Act also prohibits your employer from discriminating against you because of your pregnancy, which may give you the right to take time off work in some cases.
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New York Enacts Changes To New York Paid Family Leave And Paid Vaccine Leave Laws
New York Governor Kathy Hochul announced on November 1, 2021 that she signed legislation expanding the definition of family member under the New York Paid Family Leave Act to include siblings, effective January 1, 2023. Separately, on October 12, 2021, the New York State Department of Labor its guidance regarding paid leave time for COVID-19 vaccinations to address the applicability of the Paid Vaccination Leave Law to COVID-19 booster shots.
Definition of Family Member
The Act provides certain employees withamong other types of leavejob-protected, paid leave to care for a family member with a serious health condition. The law previously defined family members to include employees spouses domestic partners children and step-children anyone else recognized to be in the legal custody of the employee parents and step-parents parents-in-law grandparents grandchildren and anyone to whom the employee stands in loco parentis . Currently, under New Yorks paid leave law, eligible workers can take up to 12 weeks of leave at 67% of their pay, up to a state-mandated cap that changes yearly, to care for such family members.
Paid COVID-19 Vaccination Booster Leave
Q: DOES THIS LAW APPLY TO COVID-19 BOOSTER SHOTS?
Yes. Labor Law §196-c applies to any COVID-19 vaccination received by an employee, including booster shots.
The Paid Vaccination Leave Law is set to expire on December 31, 2022.
Next Steps
What Are The Eligibility Requirements
- Employees who regularly work 20 or more hours per week are eligible for coverage after they have been employed for at least 26 consecutive weeks preceding the first full day family leave begins.
- Employees who work less than 20 hours per week are eligible for coverage if they have worked at least 175 days preceding the first full day the leave begins.
The eligibility requirements is not required to be within a 52-week period, in other words, the employee would not need to meet the eligibility requirements each year. Eligibility is from date of hire once met for either, it does not need to be met again in ensuing years. Once an employee has met eligibility requirement specific to the type of employee the person is , the employee remains eligible for the duration of his/her employment.
Are employers required to cover their out-of-state employees for PFL?
NY DBL and NY PFL are mandated benefits for employees who work in New York, technically whose employment is in New York. Employers should refer to Section 201 of the New York Workers Compensation Law to determine if any of their employees are not considered employed in NY and therefore are not covered employees.
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What Is The Employer Notice Posting Requirement
Employers must post and maintain a Notice of Compliance with NY PFL in a conspicuous place, similar to what is required for Workers Compensation and Disability Insurance coverage. Insurance carriers will provide this notice stating the employer has NY PFL insurance. If you are self-insured for NY PFL coverage, you may receive this notice by contacting the Workers Compensation Board at . Employers should also consider providing the Notice of Compliance electronically, or posting it on an accessible website, for those employees that are teleworking in light of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
Will Employers Have To Pay Employees Salaries While Theyre On Leave
- No. The program is entirely funded by employees employers do not have to pay employees salaries while they are on leave. Many small businesses that previously could not afford to offer paid leave to their employees will be able to offer the benefit through the PFL Program. This helps small businesses compete for the best employees, and gives employers peace of mind that they are doing whats best for their workers. Employers that already offer paid family leave can expect to see cost-savings.
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Employee Contribution Rate For Ny Pfl
Again, New York State Paid Family Leave is fully-funded by employees. Although, employers may choose to cover the costs themselves.
Employers must deduct NY PFL from employee wages and remit it on behalf of their employees.
The 2021 contribution rate for NY family leave is 0.511%. Withhold 0.511% of each eligible employees wages. The maximum annual contribution is $385.34 per employee.
New York offers a PFL calculator on its website to help determine the payroll deduction amount.
Keep in mind the contribution is subject to change each year. Stay up-to-date on annual contribution amounts.
Disability And Paid Family Leave Benefit Plans
Employers may provide New York State Disability and Paid Family Leave benefits to their eligible employees under a Board approved Plan. All Plans must be accepted by the Board and will need to adhere to the statutory requirements of the New York State Disability and Paid Family Leave Law . Once a Plan has been accepted by the Board, the employer must provide administration of these benefits from a licensed NYS insurance carrier, or by obtaining the Boards approval to administer benefits as a Self-Insured employer.
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