Provides for paid family leave following the outcome of a pregnancy, including a stillbirth, miscarriage or abortion.
Summary
This bill amends New York’s workers’ compensation law definition of “family leave” to expressly include leave taken to recover after any pregnancy outcome, specifically a stillbirth, miscarriage, or abortion. Under the bill, these circumstances would be treated as qualifying family leave events alongside existing leave for caring for a family member, bonding with a newborn or adopted/foster child, and certain military exigencies.
The measure is framed as a paid family leave expansion and would make clear that employees may use family leave benefits for recovery after pregnancy loss or termination of pregnancy. The bill takes effect 90 days after becoming law.
Impact
The bill would expand the scope of New York’s paid family leave program under the Workers’ Compensation Law by adding explicit eligibility for leave after stillbirth, miscarriage, and abortion. This would affect employees seeking leave for recovery after pregnancy outcomes and would require employers and the state’s paid family leave system to recognize these events as covered family leave reasons. It would amend the statutory definition of family leave in section 201 of the Workers’ Compensation Law without altering the existing categories for caregiving, bonding, or military exigency leave.
Sentiment
No committee transcript or vote record is provided, so there is no direct evidence of legislative debate or recorded support/opposition in the materials supplied. Based on the bill text and caption, the measure appears intended as a worker-protection and reproductive-health leave expansion, which typically draws support from labor, family policy, and reproductive rights advocates. The absence of recorded votes or discussion means the overall sentiment cannot be assessed beyond the bill’s stated purpose.
Contention
The most likely point of contention is the inclusion of abortion as a covered reason for paid family leave, which may raise objections from anti-abortion lawmakers or advocacy groups. Another possible area of debate is whether paid family leave should cover recovery from pregnancy loss and termination of pregnancy as distinct from traditional caregiving or bonding leave. The bill text itself does not show any amendments, compromises, or recorded objections, so these concerns are inferred from the subject matter rather than from documented committee testimony.
Establishes protected leave under "Family Leave Act" and family temporary disability leave benefits for bereavement for death of child, miscarriage, stillbirth, and certain other circumstances.
Establishes protected leave under "Family Leave Act" and family temporary disability leave benefits for bereavement for death of child, miscarriage, stillbirth, and certain other circumstances.