What's happening
The bill amends New York law to require employers provide unpaid medical leave as a reasonable accommodation for employees with episodic disabilities.
Why it matters
Expands the definition of "reasonable accommodation". under state human rights law, explicitly requiring employers to consider unpaid leave for employees experiencing episodic disabilities—addressing a gap for those who may not qualify for other types of leave.
Requires medical certification and a return date estimate,. ensuring that employees must provide documentation that leave is medically necessary and communicate an approximate return date; this helps balance employee needs with employer planning.
Prohibits indefinite leave,. clarifying that the law does not obligate employers to hold positions open indefinitely, which may help address business concerns about prolonged absences.
Mandates an interactive process,. requiring employers and employees to engage in dialogue to determine the most appropriate and least disruptive accommodation, which could lead to more individualized, fair outcomes and reduce misunderstandings or disputes.
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Who cares
Headline styles
Allow Unpaid Medical Leave
Plain English, a few words. Used as the page title.
Sponsors
1 Co-sponsor
History
- Referred to governmental operations
- Referred to governmental operations
Full text
2 pagesUnderlined is new[Struck] is removedOfficial text on nysenate.gov ↗
STATE OF NEW YORK
746
2025-2026 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY (Prefiled)
January 8, 2025
Introduced by M. of A. STECK, REYES -- read once and referred to the Committee on Governmental Operations
AN ACT to amend the executive law, in relation to unpaid leave of absence as a reasonable accommodation under the state's human rights law
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows:
Section 1. Subdivision 21-e of section 292 of the executive law, as amended by chapter 369 of the laws of 2015, is amended to read as follows:
21-e. (a) The term "reasonable accommodation" means actions taken which permit an employee, prospective employee or member with a disability, or a pregnancy-related condition, to perform in a reasonable manner the activities involved in the job or occupation sought or held and include, but are not limited to, provision of an accessible worksite, acquisition or modification of equipment, support services for persons with impaired hearing or vision, job restructuring and modified work schedules; provided, however, that such actions do not impose an undue hardship on the business, program or enterprise of the entity from which action is requested.
(b) The term "reasonable accommodation" shall also mean an unpaid leave of absence to allow an employee to recover from an episodic manifestation of a disability, provided that the employee provides the employer with medical certification that such leave of absence is medically necessary for that purpose and advises the employer of the approximate date the employee will be able to return to work. An indefinite leave of absence is not permissible under this subdivision.
(c) To determine the appropriate reasonable accommodation, it may be necessary for the covered entity to initiate an informal, interactive process with the individual with a disability in need of accommodation
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
LBD02397-01-5
aimed at defining the employee's precise needs and minimizing any impact of the accommodation on the employee's work. This process should identify the precise limitations resulting from the disability and potential reasonable accommodations that could overcome those limitations, including the length of any leave of absence provided for in paragraph (b) of this subdivision. As part of the interactive process, consistent with the purpose of the interactive process, and to facilitate agreement between the employer and the employee as to the reasonable accommodation, the employer may request (1) to have the employee's physician respond in a reasonable time to a reasonable number of non-burdensome questions concerning the employee's medical condition or (2) be examined by a medical doctor of the employer's choosing.
§ 2. This act shall take effect immediately.
Reflowed for reading: line numbers and page breaks removed. Cite the official text.
Summaries, headlines and scores are AI-generated from the official bill text. How we score bills. Source: NYS Open Legislation.