FMLA in New York: Federal Rules, State Leave Laws, and an Eligibility Calculator (2026)

How does FMLA work in New York?

The federal FMLA applies in New York exactly as it does everywhere: up to 12 workweeks of unpaid, job-protected leave in a 12-month period for employees with 12 months of service, 1,250 hours worked in the prior 12 months, and 50 or more employees within 75 miles of their worksite, at a private employer with 50 or more employees or any public agency or school. New York adds no state family and medical leave statute for private employers, so the FMLA's thresholds are the only ones. New York Paid Family Leave (PFL) and Disability Benefits Law (DBL), up to 26 weeks pay a benefit during the leave, paid sick leave is mandated by the Paid Sick Leave Law, and there is no bereavement leave mandate. Checked September 15, 2026.

Does the federal FMLA apply in New York?

Yes, and identically to every other state. The federal Family and Medical Leave Act gives an eligible employee up to 12 workweeks of unpaid, job-protected leave in a 12-month period for a serious health condition, a new child, care for a spouse, parent, or child with a serious health condition, or a military exigency, and up to 26 weeks to care for a seriously injured servicemember. To be eligible you need 12 months of service with the employer, 1,250 hours actually worked in the 12 months before the leave, and a worksite with 50 or more employees within 75 miles. Private employers are covered at 50 or more employees on the payroll in 20 or more workweeks; public agencies and schools are covered at any size.

The three employee tests are measured on the day the leave starts, and the third one is the one that surprises people in New York: a covered employer with a small branch has a worksite where nobody is eligible if fewer than 50 employees work at that branch and at other sites within 75 road miles. Hours actually worked in the prior 12 months decide the 1,250-hour test; paid time off and holidays do not count. The calculator on this page runs all three tests and, when one fails, names the date or the hours that would satisfy it.

What New York leave laws add to the FMLA

New York has no state family and medical leave statute for private employers. The FMLA's thresholds are the thresholds: an employer with fewer than 50 employees owes no job-protected leave under state or federal law, and an employee with 11 months of service or 1,100 hours has no statutory right to leave, however serious the condition. Any leave beyond that is the employer's policy, which is why handbook language matters more in New York than in a state with its own act.

What the state does regulate is narrower. Paid Sick Leave (Labor Law 196-b, since 2020): 40 hours a year at employers with 5 to 99 employees (or net income above $1 million), 56 hours at 100 or more, unpaid at 4 or fewer with lower income. Paid prenatal leave (Labor Law 196-b(4-a), since January 1, 2025): 20 hours of paid leave in a 52-week period for prenatal appointments, every private employer, separate from sick leave. Paid lactation breaks (Labor Law 206-c, since 2024): 30 paid minutes per break. Blood donation leave (Labor Law 202-j) and bone marrow donation leave (Labor Law 202-a), employers with 20 or more. None of these change the FMLA arithmetic: the 12 weeks, the 1,250 hours, and the 12-month method are the same in New York as anywhere else.

Is FMLA leave paid in New York?

The FMLA itself pays nothing. Whether the 12 weeks are paid depends on the state program, any disability insurance, and the employer's own paid leave, which may be substituted for the unpaid leave under 29 CFR 825.207. New York has both kinds of state wage replacement: New York Paid Family Leave (PFL) for bonding and family care, and Disability Benefits Law (DBL), up to 26 weeks for the employee's own non-work illness or injury, including pregnancy. Benefits since January 2018. Up to 12 weeks at 67 percent of wages, capped at 67 percent of the state average weekly wage. Carries job restoration. New York Paid Family Leave protects the job itself: every covered private employee is entitled to reinstatement after PFL and to continued health insurance, regardless of employer size. DBL, the disability side, pays money only, so job protection during the employee's own illness depends on the FMLA.

Because the disability side pays while the FMLA protects, an employee on disability benefits is not on unpaid leave, so under 825.207(d) the employer cannot require PTO to be used at the same time; the two sides may agree to a top-up. Paid sick leave is mandated statewide by the Paid Sick Leave Law, accruing at 1 hour per 30 hours worked up to 40 hours/year (under 100 employees) or 56 hours/year; new York City and Westchester County have their own ordinances. Those hours can be substituted for unpaid FMLA leave. The New York paid leave calculator linked below estimates the weekly benefit under the current formula and cap.

How the 12-month period and the calculator work in New York

The federal entitlement in New York is 12 workweeks in the 12-month period the employer has chosen: calendar year, a fixed leave year, 12 months forward from first use, or a rolling 12 months measured backward from each day of leave. The method must be applied to everyone, disclosed in the rights and responsibilities notice, and changed only on 60 days' written notice. Under the rolling method every hour returns 12 months after the day it was taken; under the other three the full entitlement returns on one date. With no general state statute in New York, the federal method is the only clock to track.

The calculator on this page is preset to New York. Run the eligibility panel as of the leave start date, convert the schedule into hours (480 for a 40-hour week), then enter the leave taken and the employer's method to see the hours available today, the hours available on a future date, and, under the rolling method, the dates on which used hours come back.

Sources and last check

This page was checked on September 15, 2026 against New York State Paid Family Leave (paidfamilyleave.ny.gov); New York State Department of Labor; Workers' Compensation Law Article 9; Labor Law 196-b, 206-c. The federal rules are 29 U.S.C. 2601 ff. and 29 CFR Part 825. State thresholds and programs change, most often on January 1; the paid leave figures on the linked calculator carry their own effective dates.