New York labor law compliance is challenging, and New York Paid Family Leave (PFL) is a perfect example of why. With requirements for employee leave, payroll deductions, and more, NY PFL is quite complex. Here is everything you need to know about New York Paid Family Leave in 2025.
New York Paid Family Leave is an additional leave law that employers must adhere to in the state. New York Paid Family Leave involves eligibility requirements for both businesses and leave requests, as well as payroll deductions and insurance requirements.
Paid Family Leave in New York applies to employees who work 20 hours or more per week for at least 26 consecutive weeks.
All employees working less than that become eligible after the 175th day non-consecutive worked. Thus, all businesses in New York must comply with NY PFL.
Important to note are certain eligibility requirements specific to public employees, self-employed individuals, independent contractors, out-of-state employees, part-time, and seasonal workers.
The primary responsibility of the employer regarding New York Paid Family Leave is to ensure that they purchase a PFL insurance policy and collect the appropriate premiums from employees. This is what funds NY PFL.
Each year, the Department of Financial Services sets the employee contribution rate. For 2025, the employee contribution rate is 0.388% of an employee’s gross wages, taken each pay period.
The maximum annual contribution is $354.53 for 2025.
Important to also note, is that commissions and bonuses are considered wages for PFL purposes, and contributions are taken from employees’ after-tax wages (Department of Tax Notice No. N-17-12).
Lastly, the employer may decide to pay for PFL insurance as an employee benefit, though this is not required.
New York Paid Family Leave benefits and deductions are based on the New York Statewide Average Weekly Wage (NYSAWW), which is determined each year on March 31st. Paid Family and Leave deductions are scheduled to change on January 1st of each year.
The Statewide Average Weekly Wage for Paid Family Leave in 2025 is $1,757.19.
Under New York PFL, employers are responsible for collecting employee contributions, providing a waiver for employees who qualify for one, and ultimately paying for the insurance using collected premiums.
Employers must also report employee contributions on tax Form W-2 (Box 14).
Employees in New York can use Paid Family Leave for the following reasons:
Under NY PFL, a serious health condition is an illness, injury, impairment, physical or mental condition that involves either inpatient care or continuing treatment.
Effective and unchanged since 2023, New York employees may take up to 12 weeks of job-protected leave for reasons outlined under New York Paid Family Leave. Time off can be taken all at once or within full-day increments.
For 2025, employees who take Paid Family Leave will receive 67% of their average weekly wage, up to a cap of 67% of the current New York Statewide Average Weekly Wage (see above). For employees who earn or exceed a weekly wage of $1757.19, the maximum weekly benefit is $1,177.32.
New York Paid Family Leave has some of the strongest job protection requirements in the country. Including:
Employees are required to give 30 days advance notice of taking any foreseeable paid family leave. Otherwise, the employee will notify their employer as soon as practicable.
Employers are required to:
Considering New York PFL is one of the tougher areas of New York Labor Law compliance, you may need help.
Whether you are looking for modern Human Capital Management solutions for your business or looking for HR services in New York, companies such as EBC HCM have the experience you need when it comes to NY PFL.
To learn more about how seeking help from a New York payroll and HR company can help you better manage your business, contact one today.