By: HUB's Absence Management Team

Effective February 22, 2026:

  • Employers must provide 32 hours of unpaid safe and sick time to covered employees, in addition to the paid sick and safe time that was already provided by the statute; and
  • The covered uses of safe and sick time will expand to reach new employee circumstances.

Employer responsibilities

  • Frontload 32 hours of unpaid safe/sick time immediately upon hire and ongoing at the start of each new benefit year allowing time to be used immediately;
  • No carryover;
  • Employers can impose a minimum usage increment of up to four hours per day;
  • Unpaid safe/sick time must be reported on pay statements or another form of written documentation that is provided to the employee each pay period

Expanded covered uses effective February 22, 2026

  • Caregiving: Employees who qualify as ‘caregivers’ to care for a minor child or care recipient, as defined by ESSTA
  • Workplace violence: Meeting with legal or social service provider and taking other protective actions if they or a family member were victims of workplace violence
  • Pursuit of subsistence benefits or housing: Attend or prepare for legal proceedings or take necessary actions related to applying for, maintaining, or reinstating benefits or housing for the employee, a family member or care recipient
  • Public disasters: Including closure of the employee’s workplace, need to care for a child who’s school or childcare provider is closed or restricted in-persona operations and lastly a directive from public officials to remain indoors or avoid travel.

Next Steps for Employers

  • Reviewing and updating leave and temporary scheduling change policies to address the new unpaid leave requirement, the expanded qualifying reasons for taking leave, the paid prenatal leave requirements, and the modified temporary schedule change requirements;
  • Distributing revised policies to all employees in accordance with ESSTA requirements and updated Notice of Employee Rights, posting in a conspicuous place and providing it to employees electronically. Check for updated notice once released here;
  • Providing employees with appropriate information on the amount of paid and now unpaid safe/sick time the employee has available (and the amount of time used within the pay period) as well as complying with similar notification requirements when employees use paid prenatal leave;
  • Ensuring that the employer’s Human Resources team is accounting for new leave banks and implementing changes to leave tracking systems;

Additional Considerations

The new 32-hour unpaid safe/sick time benefit is designed to align with the City’s Temporary Schedule Change Act (TSCA), which has been simultaneously restructured. Under the amended TSCA, employees no longer have two guaranteed TSCA days each benefit year, but still have the right to request other kinds of temporary schedule changes for personal events. The employer need not agree to a requested schedule change, but must respond to the employee’s request as soon as practicable. The employer may propose an alternative temporary change, but the employee is not required to accept the alternative. 

This law reinforces employer obligations to provide 20 hours of paid prenatal leave during a 52-week period to eligible employees, which is in addition to paid and unpaid safe and sick time, and clarifies that violations are subject to ESSTA’s existing penalties.

If you have any questions, please contact your HUB Advisor. We will continue to monitor and provide updates as more information becomes available. View more Workforce Absence Management updates in our WAM Bulletins page.

NOTICE OF DISCLAIMER
Neither Hub International Limited nor any of its affiliated companies is a law or accounting firm, and therefore, they cannot provide legal or tax advice. The information herein is provided for general information only and is not intended to constitute legal or tax advice as to an organization’s specific circumstances. You should consult an attorney, accountant or other legal or tax professional regarding the application of the general information provided here to your organization’s specific situation in light of your organization’s particular needs.