The Checklist: 5 To-Do's to Help You Prepare for New York Paid Family Leave
With Paid Family Leave right around the corner, now is the time to be sure you're prepared. Here are five important activities to put on your list and check off soon.
Update your employee handbook
Employers subject to New York PFL must add the information to their written guidelines on employee benefits or leave rights. Open enrollment season is right around the corner, so be sure your emails, handouts and internal web pages reflect what employees need to know. The Standard will also provide educational materials to help employees understand Paid Family Leave.
Post the notice
As with Disability Benefits Law, you're required to display a printed notice regarding PFL. New York state will make the required notice available later this year, and we’ll provide a link as soon as it’s available.
Plan ahead for payroll
The PFL deduction rate is based on each employee's wage/salary, which may add to the complexity of your current payroll administration. Start working with your payroll team or vendor now to adapt your systems if necessary. Remember — although Paid Family Leave is frequently referred to as an employee-funded benefit, employers can choose to fund it themselves. If you elect to fund it without collecting payroll deductions, the rate will still need to be calculated according to employees’ pay.
Prepare for intermittent leave
PFL can be taken in increments as short as one day and does not have to be taken in a single block. If you’re not already tracking intermittent leave, prepare to manage absence at this level. Employees may take leave as early as Jan. 1, so you’ll want to be ready.
Consider a switch to monthly billing
If you currently pay your DBL premium annually, the addition of wage-based PFL may create costs and complications. To help simplify your payments, a monthly billing option might be best for you.
Follow The Standard on Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter with the hashtag #PaidFamilyLeave, and subscribe to this blog's RSS feed to receive updated content as new information becomes available. For more details, visit: https://www.ny.gov/programs/new-york-state-paid-family-leave