A 11619: Requires employers to provide unpaid neonatal intensive care leave while any child of an employee is a patient in a neonatal intensive care unit.

  
  STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 11619  IN ASSEMBLY July 29, 2026 ___________ Introduced by COMMITTEE ON RULES -- (at request of M. of A. Cruz) -- read once and referred to the Committee on Labor AN ACT to amend the labor law, in relation to requirements for neonatal intensive care leave The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. The labor law is amended by adding a new section 196-c to 2 read as follows: 3 § 196-c. Neonatal intensive care leave. 1. As used in this section, 4 the following terms shall have the following meanings: 5 a. "Child" means an employee's biological, adopted, or foster child, a 6 stepchild, a legal ward, or a child of a person standing in loco paren- 7 tis. 8 b. "Neonatal intensive care unit" means a special care unit that 9 provides medical treatment to premature and critically ill infants. 10 2. a. Every employer shall be required to provide its employees with 11 neonatal intensive care leave as follows: 12 (i) For employers with between sixteen and fifty employees in any 13 calendar year, each employee shall be entitled to use a maximum of ten 14 days of unpaid neonatal intensive care leave while any child of such 15 employee is a patient in a neonatal intensive care unit; and 16 (ii) For employers with fifty-one or more employees in any calendar 17 year, each employee shall be entitled to use a maximum of twenty days of 18 unpaid neonatal intensive care leave while any child of such employee is 19 a patient in a neonatal intensive care unit. 20 b. For purposes of determining the number of employees pursuant to 21 this subdivision, a calendar year shall mean the twelve-month period 22 from January first through December thirty-first. For all other 23 purposes, a calendar year shall either mean the twelve-month period from 24 January first through December thirty-first, or a regular and consec- 25 utive twelve-month period, as determined by an employer. 26 c. Leave may be taken continually or intermittently at the employee's 27 selection. An employer may require that leave be taken in minimum incre- 28 ments of not less than two hours in duration. EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [ ] is old law to be omitted. LBD16087-01-6 
 A. 11619 2 1 3. Nothing in this section shall be construed to prohibit or prevent 2 an employer from providing an amount of neonatal intensive care leave, 3 paid or unpaid, which is in excess of the requirements set forth in 4 subdivision two of this section, or from adopting a leave policy that 5 provides additional benefits to employees. No employer shall be permit- 6 ted to reduce or revoke any such neonatal intensive care leave based on 7 the number of hours actually worked by an employee during the calendar 8 year if such employer elects pursuant to this subdivision. 9 4. An employee who is entitled to leave under the family and medical 10 leave act, 29 U.S.C. Chapter 28, or article nine of the workers' compen- 11 sation law and takes leave under this section shall be granted, upon 12 completion of and in addition to any leave taken under such act or such 13 article, any leave available under this section. An employee shall be 14 entitled to leave for the maximum number of days specified in subdivi- 15 sion two of this section or the length of time the employee's child was 16 a patient in a neonatal intensive care unit, whichever is less. An 17 employer shall not require that an employee use any paid leave available 18 to the employee for any reason instead of leave the employee is entitled 19 to under this section. An employee who is entitled to take paid or 20 unpaid leave, including family, medical, sick, annual, personal, or 21 similar leave, from employment, under federal, state, or local law, a 22 collective bargaining agreement, or an employment benefits program or 23 plan, may elect to substitute any period of leave for an equivalent 24 period of leave provided under this section. 25 5. Upon the conclusion of leave taken under this section, an employee 26 shall be reinstated to their former position or a substantially equiv- 27 alent one with no loss of benefits held or accrued prior to taking 28 leave. During the period of leave, any health insurance benefits shall 29 be maintained by an employer as if an employee had not taken leave. An 30 employer shall not require an employee who uses unpaid neonatal inten- 31 sive care leave to provide a replacement worker. 32 6. If an employee takes unpaid neonatal intensive care leave pursuant 33 to this section, an employer may require reasonable verification of the 34 employee's child's length of stay in a neonatal intensive care unit. As 35 part of a reasonable verification, an employer shall not request any 36 confidential information protected by the Health Insurance Portability 37 and Accountability Act of 1996 or other law. 38 7. No employer or their agent, or the officer or agent of any corpo- 39 ration, partnership, or limited liability company, or any other person, 40 shall discharge, threaten, penalize, or in any other manner discriminate 41 or retaliate against any employee because such employee has exercised 42 their rights afforded under this section. 43 8. a. Nothing in this section shall be construed to: 44 (i) prohibit a collective bargaining agreement entered into, on or 45 after the effective date of this section from, in lieu of the leave 46 provided for in this section, providing a comparable benefit for the 47 employees covered by such agreement in the form of unpaid or paid days 48 off; such unpaid or paid days off shall be in the form of leave, compen- 49 sation, other employee benefits, or some combination thereof; or 50 (ii) impede, infringe, or diminish the ability of a certified collec- 51 tive bargaining agent to negotiate the terms and conditions of neonatal 52 intensive care leave different from the provisions of this section. 53 b. Provided, however, that in the case of either subparagraph (i) or 54 (ii) of paragraph a of this subdivision, the agreement must specif- 55 ically acknowledge the provisions of this section. 
 A. 11619 3 1 9. Nothing in this section shall be construed to prevent a city with a 2 population of one million or more from enacting and enforcing local laws 3 or ordinances which meet or exceed the standard or requirements for 4 minimum hour and use set forth in this section, as determined by the 5 commissioner. Any unpaid neonatal intensive care leave benefits provided 6 by a neonatal intensive care leave program enforced by a municipal 7 corporation in effect as of the effective date of this section shall not 8 be diminished or limited as a result of the enactment of this section. 9 10. The commissioner shall have authority to adopt regulations and 10 issue guidance to effectuate any of the provisions of this section. 11 Employers shall comply with regulations and guidance promulgated by the 12 commissioner for this purpose which may include but are not limited to 13 standards for the use and employee eligibility of neonatal intensive 14 care leave. 15 11. The department shall conduct a public awareness outreach campaign 16 which shall include making information available on its website and 17 otherwise informing employers and employees of the provisions of this 18 section. 19 § 2. This act shall take effect on the one hundred eightieth day after 20 it shall have become a law. Effective immediately, the addition, amend- 21 ment and/or repeal of any rule or regulation necessary for the implemen- 22 tation of this act on its effective date are authorized to be made and 23 completed on or before such effective date.