City hearing highlights gaps in New York City paid family and prenatal leave implementation

At a hearing of the New York City Council Committee on Women and Gender Equity, city officials and agency representatives described progress and remaining gaps in implementing paid family leave (PFL), paid parental leave (PPL) and the newly expanded prenatal-leave protections for New Yorkers.

The Office of Labor Relations reported that roughly 75% of the city workforce is covered by some form of paid family or parental leave, and that since January 2019 about 22,000 paid family leave claims have been filed by municipal employees. "Eligible employees taking paid family leave under the state program receive 67% of their average weekly wage up to a maximum of $1,177," said Daniel Pollock, first deputy commissioner at the Office of Labor Relations.

The hearing focused on three connected issues: differing leave benefits across bargaining units and nonrepresented employees; how prenatal leave is being enforced and publicized in the city; and whether nonunion workers have adequate protections when they take leave.

Why it matters: the city has a patchwork of negotiated and administratively granted leave benefits, and participants told the committee that those differences affect who uses leave and how much job-protected time workers actually take.

Most municipal employees are covered through either collective-bargaining agreements that opted into the New York State paid family leave program or separate negotiated parental-leave provisions. "As with any other leave benefits, paid parental and family leave is a term and condition of employment that must be bargained with unions representing city employees," Pollock said. He described nonrepresented employees (managers and others) as having moved from an initial six-week fully paid parental leave in 2015 to 12 weeks of fully paid leave in February 2024, and noted that "the majority of the city's civilian employees are covered through the state's paid family leave program."

Officials said participation and program design vary by bargaining unit. The United Federation of Teachers (UFT) and the Council of Supervisors and Administrators (CSA) negotiated distinct parental-leave benefits instead of opting into the state program; the Uniformed Sanitationmen's Association recently negotiated the first paid parental-leave benefit for a uniformed bargaining unit. Pollock estimated that more than 90 bargaining units have opted into the state program.

On utilization, OLR said there have been about 2,800 PFL claims year to date and about 22,000 claims since the program's citywide inception. For nonrepresented employees who receive a city-administered parental leave benefit since 2015, officials reported about 3,300 instances of paid parental leave used since that program began for a population estimated at 15,000–20,000 employees.

Agency data gaps and follow-up: council members pressed agencies for more detailed cross-tabulations (for example, leave duration by gender, age, wage band and job category). Pollock and other witnesses said those breakdowns were not immediately available at the hearing but could be provided after follow-up with the insurer and agency payroll systems. "We can do some digging and see what we're able to obtain," Pollock said when asked for duration and demographic detail.

Prenatal leave complaints and outreach: a city representative from the Department of Consumer and Worker Protection (DCWP) told the committee that DCWP has received 13 complaints specifically about the newly expanded prenatal-leave bank since it took effect in January. "Usually what our employees are saying is they're making me use my regular sick leave bank instead of the separate new bank of leave," the DCWP representative said, describing the typical complaint and how the agency contacts employers to correct misunderstandings about the law.

DCWP described a multi-channel outreach effort: updated employer materials and required workplace postings, 190 worker-facing events in 2025 reaching roughly 26,000 attendees, presentations to legal practitioners, and emailed notices to community boards and community organizations. For workers who do not participate in community outreach, DCWP said complaints can be filed by calling 311 (use keywords such as "sick leave" or "prenatal leave") or via the agency's website at nyc.gov/workers. "We'll fast track those investigations," the DCWP representative said.

Limits of city authority and benefits after unpaid leave: witnesses reminded the committee that unpaid childcare leave up to four years exists but that employees typically lose employer-provided benefits after statutory unpaid periods end. The panel also noted that Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) protections apply separately and that how much unpaid leave workers actually take depends on agency-specific rules and negotiated terms.

Public comment and equity concerns: in public testimony, Christopher Leon Johnson urged the council to strengthen protections for nonunion employees, saying nonunion workers are at risk of being replaced when they take leave. "We have to make sure that when they come back on a job, they have a job," Johnson said. Committee members noted requests from council offices and advocates that extended leave coverage be considered in future rounds of bargaining for uniformed units such as police officers, who so far have limited participation in the PFL program.

Next steps: witnesses agreed to provide more detailed agency and insurer data to the council after the hearing, including breakdowns by agency and bargaining unit where available. Committee members asked agencies to follow up on outstanding data requests and to report back with any operational barriers to tracking compliance or take-up.

No vote was taken at the hearing. The committee's staff indicated testimony and written materials would be added to the hearing record and that agencies would be asked to supply follow-up data.