Great News! New York Now Offers Paid Family Leave

Being a working parent is hard. One thing that makes it even harder: worrying that your job or savings are at risk when you take time off to care for a loved one. So here’s good news—New York State now offers paid family leave for most people who work for private employers. (If you’re a public employee, your employer may choose to offer paid family leave.)

The purpose of this new leave is simple. It’s designed to give you the time you need to:

• Bond with a newly born, adopted, or fostered child
• Take care of a close relative with a serious health condition
• Help loved ones when a family member on active military service is deployed abroad

Paid family leave benefits will be phased in over a four-year period. For 2018, the kickoff year, you can take up to eight weeks of paid family leave and receive 50 percent of your average weekly wage, capped at $652.96 (that’s 50 percent of New York State’s average weekly wage).

No, it’s not your full salary, but it’s a whole lot better than taking a total loss. And between now and 2021, both the amount of time off you can take and the amount you’ll be paid will rise.