New York’s COVID-19 emergency leave law (the “Law”) was a first-in-the-nation law requiring employers to provide paid emergency leave and other benefits for COVID-related quarantine or isolation. On July 31, 2025, the Law will sunset.
Since nearly the start of the pandemic, most employers have had to provide at least five or 14 calendar days of paid emergency leave for employees who were unable to work because of a mandatory or precautionary order of quarantine or isolation and an inability to work from home.
What This Means for Employers
- New York no longer requires an employer to maintain a bank of mandatory COVID-specific paid sick time for employees affected by the virus and otherwise unable to work from home.
- Employees may still be permitted to use alternative sick time for reasons related to COVID-19, including time allocated under an employer’s standard paid time-off policy, as well as any other available sick time under New York State or New York City sick leave laws, which allow time off for an employee’s own care as well as for care for a covered family member.
- Employees may be able to also avail themselves of leave under the Family and Medical Leave Act and/or New York State Paid Family Leave for COVID-related reasons, which provide for leave for an employee or for the care of an immediate family member with a “serious health condition.”
- Employees dealing with serious COVID-related illness, such as long COVID, may qualify for leave or other reasonable accommodations under the Americans with Disabilities Act.
In light of the Law’s expiration, New York employers should review and revise their existing policies, leave protocols, and employee handbooks to reflect the end of the COVID-specific emergency leave law.
For more information on or questions about the end of New York’s COVID-19 Sick Leave Law, please contact the authors of this alert or any other attorney in Venable’s Labor and Employment Group.