Requires every employer to provide each employee with the equivalent number of hours as three full work days for such employee of paid sick leave for a miscarriage or stillbirth of an infant born to the employee.
NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
BILL NUMBER: A244
SPONSOR: Dilan TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the labor law, in relation to requiring employers to
provide paid sick leave to employees following a miscarriage or still-
birth
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:
TO PROVIDE SICK LEAVE TO EMPLOYEES FOLLOWING A MISCARRIAGE OR
STILL-BIRTH.
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
Section 1 would amend section 196-b of the labor law by adding a new
subdivision 1-a that would require every employer to provide the equiv-
alent number of hours as three full work-days of paid sick leave to any
employee who suffers a miscarriage or stillbirth of an infant born to
the employee.
Section 2 sets the effective date.
JUSTIFICATION:
If we have paid family leave for parents to bond with their newly born
child, then we should also be providing paid leave specific to those
mothers who have experienced the trauma of stillbirth and miscarriage as
such pregnancy loss is much too monumental an event both physically and
emotionally to deny them this right. It has been reported that up to one
in four pregnancies result in the loss of the baby and at such a rate it
is safe to suggest that such loss is too common an experience to not be
providing paid time to recover from such an emotionally and physically
traumatic experience.
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
This bill was first introduced on April 13, 2021 and has not been
reported out of the Assembly Labor Committee since.
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS FOR STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTS:
To be determined
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect immediately.
