New law offers paid family leave to NY workers who need to care for a sibling – Telemundo New York (47)

New Yorkers can now take paid family leave to care for a sibling after Gov. Kathy Hochul signed into law a law Monday expanding existing leave policies in the state.

New York passed a paid family leave package in 2016 with a plan to phase in, over several years, the percentage of regular wages employees would receive on leave.

The package is fully implemented this year and workers can receive up to 67% of their regular salary for up to 12 weeks of leave.

The law will amend the workers’ compensation program to allow workers to care for their siblings, as well as their spouses, partners, children and stepchildren, parents, in-laws, grandparents and grandchildren with serious medical and mental health problems.

Employees may also take leave to help their loved ones when a family member has been deployed abroad on active duty military or, in some cases, provide the employee or their dependent minor child in case of quarantine or isolation due to COVID-19.

Hochul recalled her plight decades ago as a lawyer and expectant mother, when she was forced to decide with her husband, Bill Hochul, who was a public servant at the time, whether leaving the ideal was to leave work to care for their son.

“I needed a paid license and we didn’t have the money for the extra help,” he said.

Hochul ended up staying home to take care of her children herself, but added that “she understood then how much it was a basic human right to be able to take care of her newborn, or her adopted child or her family members.”

The COVID-19 pandemic has just exacerbated the problem for many families, he said, some of whom have lost loved ones or are experiencing long-term health effects from COVID.

“That has put a real focus on the trials and tribulations of so many people who have been marginalized and who do not have a support system,” he said.

The law would also allow the mother’s brother to take paid time off from work to help care for the children.

The governor asked Washington to do the same with a federal version of paid family leave, which is currently being debated in Congress as part of President Joe Biden’s social spending plan.

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