Written by a parent, not a doctor. Nothing here is medical advice.

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New York program

Paid time off to care for your child (Paid Family Leave)

New York Paid Family Leave can replace some pay and protect your job while you care for your child.

What it is

New York Paid Family Leave can replace some pay and protect your job while you care for your child.

A child's serious illness can qualify a working parent for Paid Family Leave. Eligible leave comes with job and health-insurance protection. Your work schedule, time on the job and employer's coverage decide whether you qualify.

Eligibility rules
  • Covered workers need 26 consecutive weeks with the employer if regularly scheduled at least 20 hours weekly. Below 20 hours, they need 175 days actually worked. Public-employer participation and self-employed elected coverage need separate checks. Employer size and a year in the job do not establish all these tests.
  • Most private employers with at least one employee have covered employment. Payroll or the carrier can confirm your coverage and qualifying work history.
  • The leave must be for a qualifying reason, including caring for a child with a serious health condition.
What you get
  • Up to 12 weeks at 67% of average weekly wages, capped at $1,228.53 weekly in 2026.
  • Leave in full-day blocks or all at once.
  • Job protection and continued health-insurance protection during eligible leave.
What the help includes
  • An eligible employee's health insurance continues under the leave rules.
  • New York disability benefits are for your own off-the-job illness or injury, not care for your child. They replace 50% of pay up to $170 weekly after a seven-day wait.
  • Disability benefits and PFL together are limited to 26 weeks in a 52-week period.
If you decide to apply
  1. Ask payroll for the Paid Family Leave carrier and family-care claim forms.
  2. Ask the oncology team to complete the medical certification if you decide to request leave.
  3. Have your leave dates and pay records ready, and ask payroll how PFL, FMLA and employer pay overlap.

Your employer's Paid Family Leave insurance carrier · Official page ↗

After you ask
  • Foreseeable leave requires 30 days' notice. Otherwise, notice is due as soon as possible.
  • The completed request is due to the carrier within 30 days after leave begins. A late request can reduce benefits for the delay.
  • Paid Family Leave has no unpaid waiting week: benefits can start with the first qualifying full day of leave. The carrier must pay or deny within 18 calendar days after it has the completed claim or the first day of leave, whichever is later. Your health insurance continues on the same terms, and you generally keep paying your usual employee share of the premium. The seven-day waiting period for New York disability benefits is a different rule.
Good to know

PFL and FMLA can cover the same absence when the employer gives the required notice. They do not automatically add up to 24 weeks.

Other details
  • Payroll can explain how employer-paid time fits with PFL. An employer cannot simply require you to exhaust sick or vacation time first. PFL and FMLA can run together when both apply and required notice is given. PFL is not payable alongside unemployment for the same leave period.
Official sources
Ask your social worker

“Could Paid Family Leave cover days I need to care for my child, and what would happen to my pay, job and health insurance? Could you help me compare it with FMLA and request it if it fits?”

Why I’m asking: I want to understand how much protected time and replacement pay I could have during treatment.

More background and detailed requirements
Additional program information and published rules

Who does what

The three parts, side by side. The agency decides; nobody on this page does.

You

Give notice, get the certification signed, and file the completed claim with the carrier within 30 days of starting leave.

Your social worker

The social worker gets the certification completed by the clinician and keeps a copy.

The care team

Completes the health-care provider certification describing the child's condition and the care needed.

Who decides
The employer's Paid Family Leave carrier decides the claim; the Workers' Compensation Board handles disputes.
Ask HR
“I need New York Paid Family Leave to care for my child. Who is our carrier for it, which forms do you need, and will it run at the same time as FMLA?”

How to apply

First step: Tell the employer's benefits office in writing that you need Paid Family Leave for your child, ask for the carrier's claim form, and get the oncology team to complete the certification. File within 30 days of starting leave.

  1. Tell the employer in writing that you need Paid Family Leave to care for your child, 30 days ahead when you can.
  2. Get the health-care provider certification from the oncology team.
  3. File the completed claim with the carrier within 30 days of starting leave.

Official application / program page ↗

Where it starts: Ask the employer for the PFL claim form and carrier name; give 30 days' notice if foreseeable; file the completed request with the carrier within 30 days of the start of leave.

What to gather

  • The carrier's PFL claim form (employee and employer sections)
  • The health-care provider certification from the oncology team
  • Recent pay stubs (the benefit is 67% of your average weekly wage)

How long: Benefits start once the carrier approves the claim; file within 30 days of the first day off.

What a yes looks like

A carrier approval with the weekly amount and the dates, and your job held.

What a no looks like, and the next move

A denial for time on the job, a public employer or late filing: the notice names the reason and how to dispute it at the Workers' Compensation Board. Ask the employer about FMLA and unpaid leave meanwhile.

Watch out

  • File the completed claim with the carrier within 30 days of the start of leave, or you lose benefits for the delay. Give 30 days' notice when you can.
  • The employer can make PFL and FMLA run together (with notice). Plan on 12 weeks total, not 24.
  • Disability benefits (DBL) are for your own illness, not your child's: 50% of pay, at most $170 a week, after 7 days. DBL and Paid Family Leave together cannot pass 26 weeks in 52.

Dates that change this

2026-01-01: The 2026 maximum weekly benefit is $1,228.53 (67% of the state average weekly wage of $1,833.63); the cap changes each January.

The numbers and the rules

The arcane layer, kept on purpose. Checked September 9, 2026.

What it is worth

Up to 12 weeks at 67% of your average weekly wage, up to $1,228.53 a week (2026), in full-day blocks or all at once, with job and health-insurance protection. Disability benefits (DBL) for your own illness: 50% of pay, up to $170 a week, after a 7-day wait.

  • $12 — Maximum weeks of Paid Family Leave (2026)
  • $67 — Wage replacement
  • $1,228.53/week — Maximum weekly benefit (2026)
  • $30 — Days after leave starts to file the completed request
  • $26 — Weeks of employment needed at 20+ hours a week
  • $175 (need not be consecutive) — Working days needed under 20 hours a week
  • $50 — DBL (your own illness): wage replacement
  • $170/week — DBL maximum weekly benefit
  • $7 — DBL waiting period
  • $26 — Combined DBL and PFL maximum in any 52 weeks

Legal protection: The right to keep health insurance during leave and to be reinstated to the same or a comparable job · Leave in full-day increments, all at once or intermittently

What it costs the family: Paid through a small payroll deduction; nothing to pay when you take leave.

The eligibility facts, as published

Employer
private employers with one or more employees; public employers only if opted in or by collective bargaining; self-employed by opt-in
Tenure
26 consecutive weeks at a regular schedule of 20 or more hours a week, or 175 worked days under 20 hours a week
Qualifying reason
care for a family member (including a child) with a serious health condition
Filing deadline days
30
Notice
30 days before leave if foreseeable, otherwise as soon as possible
Fmla interaction
the employer can require PFL and FMLA to run concurrently if it notifies the employee that the leave qualifies for both
Waiting period
a quotable zero-waiting-period rule was NOT FOUND
Dbl
own off-the-job illness or injury: 50% of the average weekly wage, at most $170 a week, 7-day waiting period, at most 26 weeks in 52; DBL plus PFL together at most 26 weeks in 52

Decisions this site cannot make: The employer's PFL insurance carrier decides the claim

Expect friction on: 30-day filing window · Employer forms and the carrier's claim form · Public employers vary

The trap: File the completed claim within 30 days of the start of leave or you lose benefits for the delay. Give 30 days' notice when the leave is foreseeable. Disability benefits (DBL) are for your own illness, not your child's, and Paid Family Leave plus DBL together cannot exceed 26 weeks in 52.

Where I read this

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