Summary#
A-11696 would amend New York’s Workers’ Compensation Law. Its goal is to let eligible employees take paid family leave in four-hour increments, while limiting benefits when they work during leave. The bill was introduced and referred to committee; it is not law.
- Family leave benefits could start with a four-hour increment, rather than a full day. Intermittent leave (leave taken in separate periods) could be claimed in four-hour increments or in amounts equal to one-tenth of the weekly benefit.
- An employee generally could not receive family leave benefits for a day when they work for pay or profit for more than one four-hour increment.
- A separate rule would deny benefits for work during the same or substantially similar working hours as the covered job if the employee works more than one four-hour increment. It covers work for the covered employer, another employer, themselves, or another person or entity. Occasional scheduling adjustments for a secondary job would not prevent benefits.
- The bill would count family leave in four-hour increments, rather than days, under a limit on combined disability and family leave.
- Existing benefit rates and maximum leave limits are not generally changed by this bill. The superintendent of financial services would retain discretion to delay increases in benefit levels.
What it means for you#
- Employees taking family leave: You could claim leave in four-hour increments. But paid work exceeding one four-hour increment in a day would generally make benefits unavailable for that day. The bill also bars benefits for an increment when the employee is entitled to employer pay or maintenance at least equal to the benefit.
- Employees working another job or for themselves: The work rule expressly covers these situations. Work during the same or substantially similar hours as the covered job is addressed separately, with an exception for occasional scheduling adjustments in secondary jobs.
- Employers and insurers: They would have to apply the changed benefit increments and work limits. The bill does not set out a new application or review process.
- People receiving disability benefits: The bill changes how family-leave increments count under a limit on receiving disability and family leave. It does not otherwise change the disability-benefit waiting period in the text provided.
- Everyone: If enacted, the changes would start 180 days after the bill becomes law. The supplied materials do not include the full current Workers’ Compensation Law, so current-law details beyond the amended passages could not be verified.
Money#
No cost estimate is provided in the available material.
- The bill changes when family leave benefits may be claimed, but does not state a total public cost, savings, or change in insurance premiums.
- It authorizes rules needed to implement the changes before they take effect, but gives no estimate of the cost of that work.
What is unclear#
- The bill does not define how to measure a “four-hour increment,” especially when someone works for multiple employers or has a varying schedule.
- It does not explain how the general work limit interacts with the separate rule about work during the same or substantially similar hours.
- It does not set out claim procedures, timelines, appeals, or how employers and insurers should handle partial-day claims.
- The full current Workers’ Compensation Law was not supplied, so the bill’s interaction with all existing rules and programs could not be checked.
Case for#
- The bill appears intended to let employees take shorter periods of family leave instead of having to claim a full day.
- A possible argument for the four-hour limit is that it would allow some paid work while preventing benefits for days with more than a limited amount of work.
- Counting leave in four-hour increments could make the combined-leave limit reflect partial periods more closely than counting whole days.
Case against#
- The bill does not clearly explain how to count work time across jobs or apply the two work-related benefit limits together.
- Shorter claims and multiple work arrangements could make benefit administration more complex; the bill does not provide a process for resolving those questions.
- Because the bill does not include a cost estimate, the financial effect on insurers, employers, employees, and the benefit system is unknown.