Dive Brief:

• The New York Paid Family Leave Law (PFLL) will go into effect Jan. 1, making employees of private New York-based construction companies eligible for paid family leave, according to Construction Law Zone.
• The law applies to all employees who work for private firms, even if the employee works from home or outside New York. Employees qualify after working for 26 consecutive weeks for 20 hours or more per week, or after 175 days of employment if they regularly work less than 20 hours per week.
• Unlike under the federal Family Medical Leave Act, employees may not take paid family leave (PFL) for a serious health condition or military service. But it can be used for the birth or adoption of a child, to care for an ill family member or to deal with family obligations if another family member is called to active-duty military service.

Dive Insight:

Although the Family Medical Leave Act requires unpaid time off, the U.S. is the only industrialized nation that does not mandate some form of paid family leave. In response, some states, cities and companies have chosen to implement their own policies. IBM, for example, expanded its paid parent leave policy from 14 to 20 weeks for new mothers and doubled paid leave for fathers and adoptive parents from seven to 14 weeks. Earlier this year, the Iron Workers Union announced paid maternity leave, which includes up to six months of pre-delivery benefits and six to eight weeks of post-delivery leave.

California, New Jersey and Rhode Island have paid family leave requirements and Washington, D.C., along with New York, will be implementing similar policies. California and New Jersey, however, require only six weeks of partial income replacement, and Rhode Island's policy tops out at four weeks of 60% income replacement, reports Politifact.

New York's paid family leave policy, when fully implemented in 2021, will be the most generous in the nation. Benefits will phase in over four years, topping out at 12 paid weeks.

President Trump and his daughter, Ivanka Trump, spoke about the importance of paid parent leave during the presidential campaign last year, although the president has not put forth a policy and Congress hasn't proposed any legislation.

New York's pending family leave law is just one example of a state policy impacting construction companies. In October, New York City mayor Bill de Blasio signed Intro 1447 into effect, which requires construction workers to undergo at least 40 hours of safety training. The mayor also mandated more stringent crane safety requirements, which several construction groups resisted, after a February 2016 crane collapse.