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We have been getting a lot of questions on this so thought I’d give you a breakdown of how it works and what to expect for January 1, 2018 with New York Paid Family Leave.

What is it?

As of January 1, 2018, most employees who work in New York State will be eligible for Paid Family Leave.  This is leave not for yourself, this is leave to take care of others which include:  spouse, domestic partner, child, stepchild, parent, stepparent, in-laws, grandparent or grandchild.  This is also available due to Active Military Duty Deployment.  They are not including siblings at this time, so keep that in mind.

Who is eligible?

• Full-time employees: If you work a regular work schedule of 20 or more hours per week, you are eligible after 26 consecutive weeks of employment.*
• Part-time employees: If you work a regular work schedule of less than 20 hours per week, you are eligible after working 175 days, which do not need to be consecutive.*
• You are eligible regardless of your citizenship and/or immigration status.

*These weekly counts look back at 2017.  What this means is if you have been a full-time employee for 2017 and been working over 20 hours per week for the 26 weeks leading up to January 1, 2018 – you would be eligible to go out on claim January 1, 2018.

How much is taken out of my paycheck?

• This is a prorated amount (no more than $1.65 per week) depending on how the company does payroll, but it is basically capped around $85 FOR THE YEAR, so you won’t even notice it coming out of your check! Here is the deductions calculator if you want to know exactly!

How much do I get?

• This is going to be a 4-year phase in and you are going to start seeing these acronyms a lot: AWW and SAWW.  AWW stands for Average Weekly Wage and SAWW stands for State Average Weekly Wage.  The SAWW they are using for 2018 is $1305.92, which translates into the Max Weekly Benefit you can get is $652.96 for 8 weeks.
• Here is a grid showing the phase in numbers from state website!

Benefits Increase Through 2021

• Example: An employee who makes $1,000 a week would receive a benefit of $500 a week (50% of $1,000). Another employee who makes $2,000 a week would receive a benefit of $652.96, because this employee is capped at one-half of New York State’s Average Weekly Wage —currently $1,305.92. Half of that amount is $652.96.
• Leave can be taken either all at once or in full-day increments. You may take the maximum time-off benefit in any given 52-week period. The 52-week clock starts on the first day you take Paid Family Leave.

As an Employee, what do you need to do if you need to go out on claim?

1. Notify your employer. You need to do this at least 30 days before you want your leave to start (if possible).  For example, if you are due with a baby 2/1, you can plan ahead, but if the baby comes 4 weeks early, you need to notify your employer as soon as possible.
2. Submit a claim form. You’ll need to ask your employer or the employer’s insurance company what forms you should complete and get the supporting documentation that is requested.  Make sure to keep a copy for your records.  You can actually submit your claim form 30 days before or 30 days after the event and then the carrier has 18 days to respond to your claim.

Click here for the Employee Fact Sheet by New York State!

As an Employer, what do you need to do?

1. If you have State Mandated Disability, your carrier will most likely offer the Paid Family Leave coverage. If you haven’t received an email or a letter from your carrier, you need to reach out to them ASAP.
2. As this is an Employee Paid benefit, Employees will have deductions taken out of their paychecks for this. If your payroll company hasn’t reached out to you about this, check with them before your first January 2018 payroll run.
3. You also must Post a Workforce Notice, which you should also be getting in the mail from your carrier.
4. If you currently Self Insure your Disability, here’s a list of carriers that you can get this coverage from!
5. Update your handbook to include the new policy if you have one!

Click here for the Employer Fact Sheet by New York State!

I know this doesn’t cover absolutely everything you might have a question on, but if you read and understand this, you’ll be more equipped than 99% of New Yorkers out there!