Tag: employee contributions

January 27, 2023

2023 New York Paid Family Leave Update (Webinar Recap)

On January 26, 2023, I presented a complimentary webinar entitled “2023 New York Paid Family Leave Update”. For those who couldn’t attend the live webinar, I’m happy to make it available for you to watch at your convenience.

In the webinar, I discuss:

Employer & Employee Coverage
Contributions & Benefit Rates
Qualifying Circumstances
Program Updates & Amendments
Interaction with Other Leaves

and much more!

The New York Paid Family Leave Program took effect January 1, 2018. Five years later, PFL continues to evolve each year, For example, employee contributions and benefit rates change annually. There have also been statutory amendments to the law since it launched. This webinar recaps the fundamental aspects of PFL, identifies the key updates, and discusses compliance issues and strategies.

Don’t have time to watch the whole webinar right now? Click here to download the slides from the webinar.

Why You Should Watch “2023 New York Paid Family Leave Update”

Virtually all private employers with at least one employee in New York State must be familiar with New York’s Paid Family Leave Program. Especially post-pandemic, this includes out-of-state employers with employees working remotely in the State of New York.

From describing the necessary insurance coverage and related administrative issues to contemplating the interaction between PFL, the FMLA, and other forms of employee leave, this webinar provides a broad overview of the New York Paid Family Leave program in 2023.

Whether you don’t know whether your company has all its bases covered or are looking for nuanced guidance on applying PFL in your workplace, this webinar will help further orient you. Materials include statistical charts on how the costs and benefits of PFL have changed over the past five years and other information that will help you answer questions from other members of management and employees alike.

Don’t Miss Our Future Webinars!

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December 14, 2022

2023 Paid Family Leave in New York

The New York Paid Family Leave (PFL) Program provides partial pay for employees who take time off due to covered family situations. In 2023, paid family leave benefits are improving for employees, and their contributions are decreasing. In addition to higher wage replacement, employees will now be able to use PFL to care for siblings along with other previously eligible family members.

Qualifying Circumstances

PFL provides up to 12 weeks of job-protected time off to:

Bond with a newborn, an adopted child, or a child in foster care;
Care for a family member with a serious health condition; or
Assist with family situations when a spouse, domestic partner, child, or parent is deployed on active military duty.

PFL is also specifically available in some situations when an employee or their minor dependent child is under an order of quarantine or isolation due to COVID-19.

Covered Family Members

Before 2023, family care leave covered caring for a spouse, domestic partner, child, parent, parent-in-law, grandparent, or grandchild with a serious health condition. Effective January 1, 2023, the law expands this coverage to include biological siblings, adopted siblings, step-siblings, and half-siblings.

Employee Contributions

Even though benefits are expanding to cover more family members this year, the employee contribution rate for PFL is decreasing. For 2023, employees will contribute 0.455% of their gross wages per pay period. The maximum annual contribution for 2023 is $399.43, which is $24.28 less than in 2022.

2023 Paid Family Leave Benefits

Despite the lower employee contribution, the maximum weekly benefit for employees taking PFL will increase in 2023. Eligible employees receive 67% of their average weekly wage up to a cap of 67% of the New York State Average Weekly Wage (AWW). The 2023 AWW is $1,688.19, making the maximum weekly benefit $1,131.08, which is $62.72 more than the maximum weekly benefit for 2022.

Gender X

In addition to reflecting the above changes, all PFL request forms have been updated to include a “Gender X” option to accommodate those identifying as gender neutral or gender other and have removed gender pronouns.

The updated forms are available at the links below:

Preparing for 2023

Companies should confirm their 2023 paid family leave premiums with their insurance carriers. Then ensure next year’s payroll includes the correct contribution rates.

Most employers will need to revise their paid family leave policies to include siblings among the list of qualifying family members. If your policy reflected specific rates for paid family leave in 2022 (or earlier), you should update that component too.

To stay up to date on employment law developments, trends, and best practices, click here to sign up for the Horton Law email newsletter and follow us on LinkedIn.

September 9, 2020

2021 Paid Family Leave in New York

We are now in the third year of New York’s Paid Family Leave Program. It continues to get more costly for employees. But the benefits also get better. Here a primer on New York’s 2021 Paid Family Leave Program.

Employee Contributions

The New York Department of Financial Services (DFS) has announced the maximum employee-contribution rate for 2021. It will increase from 0.270% to 0.511% of the employee’s gross wages, up to an annual maximum. This maximum annual contribution will be $385.34 in 2021 compared to $196.72 in 2020.

The contribution rate increased from 0.153% to 0.270% in 2020. That changed the maximum annual contribution from $107.97 to $196.72. Thus, the maximum annual contribution has nearly doubled since last year and increased overall by 350% in just 3 years.

This means an additional annual cost of up to nearly $300 for many employees from 2018 to 2021. And additional increases remain likely each year.

2021 Paid Family Leave Benefits

But it’s not all bad news for workers. DFS also confirmed that the weekly paid family leave benefit will increase again in 2021. The weekly benefit rate increases from 60% of the employee’s average weekly wage to 67%. This percentage only applies up to the first $1,450.17 of weekly earnings. An employee who earns more than that can only receive $971.61 per week in paid family leave benefits.

The maximum leave allowance also increases from 10 weeks in 2019-2020 to 12 weeks in 2021. That is the last scheduled increase in the length of the paid leave allowance, which began at 8 weeks in 2018.

Preparing for 2021

Companies should confirm their 2021 paid family leave premiums with their insurance carriers. Then make sure that next year’s payroll will include the correct contribution rates.

If your paid family leave policy reflected specific rates for paid family leave in 2020 (or earlier), then you might want to update that component.

This is also an excellent opportunity for employers to review which employees are eligible to opt out of the paid family leave program. Employers must offer qualifying employees the chance to waive coverage (and corresponding paycheck deductions). However, the waiver automatically expires if the employee later becomes eligible for paid family leave.

Finally, employers might find that these changes coupled with unique COVID-19 issues increase the utilization of paid family leave in 2021. First, the benefits are higher and last longer, making it more financially viable for employees to take time off from work. Plus, since employees have to pay more for the program, they might feel even more entitled to use it. These factors might require employers to replace more worker hours next year or otherwise allow for lost productivity.

To stay up to date on employment law developments, trends, and best practices, click here to sign up for the Horton Law email newsletter and follow us on LinkedIn.