Former Governor Andrew M. Cuomo today announced that New York's landmark Paid Family Leave provided more than 8 million workers across the State access to job-protected, paid time off and over 128,000 people used the benefit statewide in 2018. Of the 8 million workers covered, over 2 million had no previous coverage or protection under the federal Family & Medical Leave Act.
Compared to other states' first year of paid family leave, New York had the highest overall participation rate, highest percentage of men who used Paid Family Leave, and the highest percentage of workers who took Paid Family Leave to care for a family member with a serious health condition. In New York, employees can use Paid Family Leave to bond with their new child, help relieve family pressures when a spouse, domestic partner, child or parent is called to active military service abroad, or care for a family member with a serious physical or mental health condition.