What Employee Benefits Are Required by Law in New York?

Employers in New York must provide workers’ compensation, short-term disability insurance, paid family leave, sick and safe leave, and unemployment insurance, and they must allow time off for voting, jury duty, and blood donation. Larger employers also owe health coverage under federal law and advance notice before mass layoffs. The employee benefits required by law in New York come from a mix of state statutes and federal rules, and the specifics shift with employer size, industry, and payroll.

Workers’ Compensation

Nearly every New York employer must carry workers’ compensation insurance, regardless of company size or how many hours employees work.¹ The policy pays for medical care and replaces part of lost wages when a worker is hurt on the job or develops a work-related illness, and employees don’t need to prove employer fault to collect.

Wage-replacement benefits run at two-thirds of the employee’s average weekly wage, capped at $1,222.42 per week for the period from July 1, 2025 through June 30, 2026.² Permanent disability compensation may also apply for serious injuries. Coverage can come through a private insurer, the New York State Insurance Fund, or self-insurance for employers that qualify financially.

Operating uninsured gets expensive fast. The Workers’ Compensation Board can impose up to $2,000 for every 10-day period without coverage. Failing to insure five or fewer employees is a misdemeanor punishable by $1,000 to $5,000 in fines; failing to cover more than five is a Class E felony with fines from $5,000 to $50,000. A second conviction within five years becomes a Class D felony.³

Short-Term Disability Insurance

Private-sector employers must provide short-term disability coverage for off-the-job injuries and illnesses under the state’s Disability Benefits Law, which also covers pregnancy-related disabilities.⁴

Qualifying employees receive 50% of their average weekly wage up to $170 per week, for a maximum of 26 weeks within any 52-week period.⁵ Employers can deduct up to 60 cents per week from each paycheck toward the premium.⁴

Eligibility requires four consecutive weeks of work with a covered employer. Part-time and seasonal workers qualify once they hit that mark. Claims must be filed within 30 days of the disability starting, with medical documentation. Denials can be appealed through the Workers’ Compensation Board.⁴

Paid Family Leave

New York’s Paid Family Leave program gives employees job-protected paid time off to bond with a new child, care for a close family member with a serious health condition, or handle needs tied to a family member’s military deployment. Almost all private-sector employees who meet the minimum work requirements are covered.

Workers can take up to 12 weeks and receive 67% of their average weekly wage, capped for 2026 at $1,228.53 per week. The program is paid for entirely through employee payroll deductions. The 2026 contribution rate is 0.432% of gross wages per pay period, with an annual maximum of $411.91.⁶ Employers must either carry PFL insurance through an approved provider or qualify to self-insure.

Retaliation is prohibited. Employees returning from PFL must be restored to their prior role or a comparable one at the same pay and benefits. Leave can be taken continuously or in full-day increments.⁷

How PFL and Federal FMLA Interact

The federal Family and Medical Leave Act adds up to 12 weeks of unpaid, job-protected leave per year, but only at employers with 50 or more employees within a 75-mile radius.⁸ Eligibility requires 12 months of service and 1,250 hours worked in the prior year.⁹ When both laws apply, the leaves run concurrently rather than back-to-back. FMLA covers the employee’s own serious health condition, which PFL does not.

Paid Sick and Safe Leave

Every New York employer owes sick leave. Whether it’s paid, and how much, depends on headcount and net income:¹⁰

4 or fewer employees and net income of $1 million or less: up to 40 hours of unpaid sick leave per year.
4 or fewer employees and net income over $1 million: up to 40 hours of paid sick leave per year.
5 to 99 employees: up to 40 hours of paid sick leave per year.
100 or more employees: up to 56 hours of paid sick leave per year.

Employees accrue one hour of leave per 30 hours worked, starting on day one. Employers may front-load the full annual allotment instead.

The law isn’t limited to personal illness. It also covers caring for a sick family member and “safe leave” when the employee or a family member has been affected by domestic violence, a sexual offense, stalking, or human trafficking. Safe-leave uses include getting services from a shelter, meeting with an attorney, filing a police report, safety planning, relocating, and enrolling children in a new school.¹¹ Covered family members include spouses, domestic partners, children, parents, siblings, grandchildren, and grandparents.¹⁰

Health Insurance

New York doesn’t directly mandate health coverage, but federal law does for larger employers. The Affordable Care Act’s shared responsibility rules reach any employer that averaged 50 or more full-time employees (including full-time equivalents) during the prior calendar year.¹²

Applicable large employers that fail to offer affordable minimum essential coverage to at least 95% of their full-time workers face one of two penalties. For 2026, the penalty for not offering coverage at all is $3,340 per full-time employee, minus the first 30. If coverage is offered but doesn’t meet affordability or minimum value standards, the penalty is $5,010 per employee who receives a marketplace subsidy.¹³ Coverage counts as affordable for 2026 if the employee’s share of the self-only premium doesn’t exceed 9.96% of household income.

Continuation Coverage

When employees lose coverage because of job loss, reduced hours, or certain other life events, employers with 20 or more employees must offer federal COBRA for up to 18 months, and up to 36 months for dependents in some situations.¹⁴ The former employee pays the full premium plus a 2% administrative fee.

Smaller employers aren’t off the hook. New York requires businesses with fewer than 20 employees to provide continuation coverage for up to 36 months at 102% of the plan’s actual cost whenever an employee loses coverage through termination or loss of plan eligibility, regardless of the reason.¹⁵ The 36-month state window runs longer than the standard 18-month federal COBRA period, which catches some small employers off guard.

Unemployment Insurance

Employers must pay into the state unemployment insurance system, which provides temporary income to workers who lose jobs through no fault of their own. The program runs on employer payroll taxes under both the Federal Unemployment Tax Act and state law. The federal FUTA rate is 6.0% on the first $7,000 of each employee’s wages, with a credit for on-time state unemployment tax payments that reduces the effective federal rate to 0.6%.¹⁶ State contribution rates vary by employer based on an experience rating tied to layoff and claim history.

To collect, a claimant must have earned at least $3,500 in the highest-paid quarter of their base period, be available for work, and actively look for a job. The maximum weekly benefit is $869.¹⁷ Weekly certification of job-search efforts keeps the payments coming.

Voting, Jury Duty, and Blood Donation Leave

Three smaller leave categories often get overlooked.

Voting

Under New York Election Law, employers must give employees enough time to vote. If the employee has four or more consecutive hours free before or after their shift while polls are open, no additional leave is required. Otherwise, the employer must provide up to two paid hours at the start or end of the shift. General-election polls run from 6:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m.

Jury Duty

Employers can’t fire a worker for serving on a jury as long as the employee gave advance notice. Employers with 10 or more employees must pay the first $72 per day of wages for the first three days of service. The state pays a $72 daily fee for any service days the employer doesn’t cover.¹⁸

Blood Donation

New York Labor Law requires employers to allow at least three hours of leave per calendar year for off-premises blood donation during work hours.¹⁹ Separate Labor Law provisions cover bone marrow donation.

Advance Notice of Layoffs

New York’s WARN Act applies to employers with 50 or more full-time workers. A covered employer planning a mass layoff, plant closing, relocation, or significant cut in work hours must give 90 days’ advance written notice to affected employees, the Department of Labor, and local government officials. That’s 30 days longer than the federal WARN Act’s 60-day notice.²⁰

Notice is required when the action affects at least 25 employees making up at least 33% of a site’s workforce, or at least 250 employees regardless of percentage. The state uses rolling 30-day and 90-day windows to add up smaller rounds of layoffs, so staggering cuts won’t sidestep the rule.²⁰

1
Workers’ Compensation Board. Workers’ Compensation Coverage Requirements
2
Workers’ Compensation Board. Schedule of Maximum Weekly Benefit
3
New York State Senate. New York Code WKC 52 – Effect of Failure to Secure Compensation
4
Workers’ Compensation Board. Employee Disability Benefits
5
NYSIF. NYSIF Disability Benefits Premium Rate 2026
6
Paid Family Leave. New York Paid Family Leave Updates for 2026
7
Paid Family Leave. Benefits
8
eCFR. 29 CFR 825.105 – Counting Employees for Determining Coverage
9
U.S. Department of Labor. Fact Sheet 28 – The Family and Medical Leave Act
10
The State of New York. New York Paid Sick Leave
11
The State of New York. New York State Paid Sick and Safe Leave Law
12
Internal Revenue Service. Determining if an Employer Is an Applicable Large Employer
13
Internal Revenue Service. Employer Shared Responsibility Provisions
14
U.S. Department of Labor. FAQs on COBRA Continuation Health Coverage
15
NY Department of Financial Services. FAQ – COBRA Health Insurance Coverage
16
Internal Revenue Service. Publication 926 (2026) – Household Employer’s Tax Guide
17
Department of Labor. What Is the Maximum Benefit Rate?
18
New York State Attorney General. Family, Medical, and Other Types of Leave
19
New York State Department of Labor. Guidelines for Implementation of Employee Blood Donation Leave
20
Department of Labor. WARN for Businesses – Frequently Asked Questions