New York State Paid Family Leave

Video Transcript

[RYAN] My name is Ryan Tomchick and I manage the New York State Family Leave program. This leave is commonly
called NYPFL or PFL for short. New York State requires employers to offer this leave to our
non-academic employees. NYPFL allows you to take up to 12 weeks of paid, job-protected leave to
bond with your newborn child, adoption or fostering of a child, care for a covered family member with
a serious health condition or to assist with family situations when a family member is on
active military service in a foreign country. NYPFL pays 67% of your daily average wage
and is paid in full-day increments only. That means the smallest increment of time allowed under NYPFL
is a full day of leave. You are able to supplement the 67% with your own accruals to receive full pay.
Time paid as NYPFL will generally count under the unpaid Federal FMLA, because most leaves
qualify for coverage under both plans. In order to qualify for leave under this program, if you
generally work at least 20 hours a week you must work at Cornell for at least 26 weeks before you
become eligible to take this leave. The calculation for employees who work less than 20 hours a week
is more complicated but you become eligible to take the leave after you've actually worked and
completed 175 days of actual employment. New York State specified that the Paid Family
program is employee funded and that employers shall collect an employee contribution through
payroll deduction determined annually by the New York State Department of Financial Services.
If you wish to take this leave, please fill out the PFL request form available on our website.
All items on this form must be completed and submitted at least 30 days in advance of the
requested leave. If less than 30 days advance notice is given, an explanation must be provided.
Additional forms and supporting documents will be required depending on the type of leave that
is being requested. These forms will be provided once the PFL request form has been received.
It is important to note that this is a state-level program. What this means is that our
employees working in other states with their own state provided paid family leave or medical
leave benefits will be covered under the terms of the respective state's policies. If you are unsure
whether your state provides its own paid family leave or medical leave benefit, you may contact
Medical Leaves Administration if you are covered under your own state's policy. We will be happy to
direct you to the appropriate state agency which would receive your request for paid leave. If you
have any questions on Paid Family Leave please reach out to me at rmt224@cornell.edu, thank you.

Paid leave for eligible non-academic staff members to bond with a new child, care for a family member with a serious health condition, or for a qualifying military exigency.

Explanation of Paid Family Leave benefit

Paid Family Leave offers eligible employees job-protected, paid time off for the following reasons:

Bonding with a newly born, adopted, or fostered child
Caring for a family member with a serious health condition
Assisting loved ones when a spouse, domestic partner, child, or parent is deployed abroad on active military service

In some cases, Paid Family Leave may also be available if an employee or their minor dependent child is under an order of quarantine or isolation due to COVID-19.

Paid Family Leave provides up to 12 weeks (which can be taken all at once or on an intermittent basis) of job-protected time off at 67 percent of your average weekly wage.

Eligibility and deductions

Non-academic staff who work 20 or more hours per week are eligible to request the leave after 26 weeks of employment.
Non-academic staff who work less than 20 hours per week are eligible to request the leave after 175 days worked (not consecutive days employed).

New York State specified that the Paid Family Leave Program is employee-funded, and that employers shall collect an employee contribution through a payroll deduction determined annually by the New York State Department of Financial Services.

For 2025: The payroll deduction rate for 2025 has been lowered to .388%, with a maximum annual cap of $354.53 . That means if the deduction rate of .388% results in an employee contributing $354.53 in PFL premiums, then Cornell will automatically cease taking further premiums for the remainder of the calendar year.

All items on this form must be completed and submitted at least 30 days in advance of the requested leave. If less than 30 days advance notice is being given, an explanation must be provided. Additional forms and supporting documentation will be required depending on the type of leave being requested. These forms will be provided once the PFL Request Form has been received.

Note: Employees working outside New York State:

Employees working in other states with state-provided paid family and/or medical leave benefits will be covered under the terms of their respective state's policies. If you are unsure whether your state provides its own paid family or medical leave benefit you may contact Medical Leaves Administration (MLA) at 607-255-1177, and MLA can direct you to the appropriate state agency which would receive your request for paid leave.

Bonding Leave: Birth, adoption, or foster of a child with New York Paid Family Leave

The total time afforded to both parents for leave remains the same, but the paid period increases from 4 weeks to 12 - and is provided at a higher rate - and in turn, the unpaid time decreases from 12 weeks to 4.

Check out our comparison graphic to see how the new bonding leave program under NYPFL matches up to the prior parental leave policy.

Faculty and academics

See University Policy 6.2.1, Leaves for Professors and Academic Staff.

Working at Cornell

Leaves