NYC Safe and Sick Time
Pursuant to the Paid NYC Safe and Sick Leave Law, employees accrue NYC Safe and Sick Time at a rate of one hour for every 30 hours worked, up to a maximum of 56 hours of NYC Safe and Sick Time per fiscal year (July 1–June 30). New employees may begin to use sick leave 120 days after starting their employment.
When safe or sick leave is
foreseeable, staff and faculty members must provide seven calendar days’
advance written notice of their intention to take safe or sick leave to their
supervisor and submit their time off via Myday for supervisor’s approval. If
safe or sick leave is unforeseeable, the employee shall provide written
notice of the use of the leave to their supervisor as soon as reasonably
practicable. Failure to provide the required timely notice may result in a
denial of the leave, unless unusual circumstances justify the failure to comply.
If an employee’s general health is causing frequent or regular absences, they should be directed to contact Human Resources. Absences of three or more consecutive days should be reported to Human Resources, and documentation will be requested. The existence of an illness or injury may support continued use of sick leave under the FMLA and or short-term disability.
Short-Term Disability
Short-term disability benefits provide wage replacement for up to 26 weeks if you are unable to work because of a qualifying medical condition. If you are absent from work for more than seven consecutive calendar
days because of a medical condition, including pregnancy, you may qualify for short-term disability benefits.
During your first year of employment, you are eligible to receive your pre-disability pay for the duration of a disability up to a maximum of four weeks with certification by your physician and the approval of the short-term disability carrier. If the
disability lasts longer than four weeks, you may qualify for a benefit paid directly by the short-term disability carrier, which is equal to the New York State disability benefit amount of 50 percent of your weekly pay up to a maximum of $170 per
week.
If you have one or more years of service, you are eligible to receive your pre-disability pay for the duration of a disability up to a maximum of 26 weeks with certification by your physician and the approval of the short-term disability carrier. Your
wage replacement amount will not exceed your base rate of pay. Any payments received directly from the short-term disability carrier will be offset against your university paid wage replacement.
Any short-term disability leave will run concurrently with leave qualified under the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), if eligible.
If you are not cleared to return to work at the expiration of a 26-week short-term disability leave, your salary continuation will cease and employment will end. You will be offered COBRA to continue healthcare coverage at your own cost.
Please see below for information on Long-Term Disability benefits.
Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA)
FMLA entitles an eligible employee to take up to 12 weeks of unpaid job-protected leave for the following reasons:
- For incapacity due to pregnancy or prenatal medical care
- To care for the employee’s child after birth or placement for adoption or foster care*
- For a serious health condition that prevents the employee from performing their job**
- To care for the employee’s spouse, child, or parent with a serious health condition
- Because of a qualifying exigency if the spouse, child, or parent of an employee is in the National Guard or Reserves or a regular component of the armed forces and is on covered active duty or is called to covered active duty
- For military caregiver leave (also known as covered service member leave) to care for an injured or ill service member or veteran who is the employee's spouse, child, parent, or next of kin. An employee may take up to 26 weeks in a single 12-month
period for this purpose.
*FMLA leave for birth, placement for adoption, or placement for foster care must be taken within 12 months of the FMLA event.
**The FMLA period runs concurrently with an approved short-term disability period.
The first 56 hours of an approved unpaid Family and Medical Leave (FMLA) will be paid out as New York City Sick Leave, in accordance with the Paid Sick Leave Act. Please refer
to the Institutional Policies and Procedures Manual for more detailed information.
Please refer to The New School's FMLA policy for detailed information. If you have questions or need additional information about the FMLA, contact the Benefits Department
at 212.229.5671 x4942 or visit dol.gov/whd/fmla/index.htm. You can also view the U.S. Department of Labor's FMLA poster for related information.
Employee Eligibility
Minimum requirements for an employee to be eligible for FMLA:
- The employee has 12 months or 52 weeks of service with The New School.
- The employee has worked for The New School for at least 1,250 hours in the 12-month period immediately before commencement of the leave.
- The employee is employed at a work site within 75 miles of which 50 or more employees are employed by The New School.
New York State Paid Family Leave
New York State’s Paid Family Leave (PFL) allows eligible employees to take up to 12 weeks of leave. General program information is available on the New York State Paid Family Leave website. This is an employee-paid benefit. The 2024 payroll contribution is 0.373 percent of an employee’s wages each pay period and is capped at an annual maximum of $333.25. This deduction may fluctuate from pay period to pay period, depending on gross wages.
Paid Family Leave entitles an eligible employee to take up to 12 weeks of paid job-protected leave for any of the following reasons:
- To bond with a child during the first 12 months following the birth, adoption, or foster care placement of a child
- To participate in providing care, including physical or psychological care, for a family member (child, spouse, domestic partner, parent, grandchild, grandparent, or parent of a spouse or domestic partner) with a serious health condition (defined at the end of this policy)
- For qualifying exigencies, as interpreted by the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), arising out of the fact that a spouse, domestic partner, child, or parent is on active duty (or has been notified of an impending call or order to active duty) in the armed forces of the United States
PFL is paid at 67 percent of the employee's average weekly wage, not to exceed 67 percent of the State Average Weekly Wage (SAWW), which is set annually by the New York State Department of Labor. For 2024, the SAWW is $1,718.15, so the maximum weekly PFL benefit someone may receive is $1,151.16.
The standard will calculate your PFL wages based on your last 8-weeks of earned gross wages.
Please read the New York State Paid Family Leave Statement for more details.
Employee Notice
All employees requesting short-term disability benefits, FMLA, and/or PFL leave must provide verbal or written notice of the need for the leave by contacting the university’s Benefits Department at [email protected] or 212.229.5671 x4942.
When the need for a leave is foreseeable, the employee must provide the university with at least 30 days' notice. If an employee becomes aware of a need to take FMLA leave less than 30 days before the leave would commence, the employee must provide notice
of the need for the leave either the same day or the next business day after he or she becomes aware of it. When the need for FMLA leave is not foreseeable, the employee must comply with The New School’s usual and customary notice and procedural requirements
for requesting leave, absent unusual circumstances.
Pay and Benefits
FMLA leave is unpaid. However, other types of leave, such as disability for an employee’s own serious health condition or the birth of a child, may provide income replacement and run concurrently with FMLA and be
designated as FMLA leave. An employee may choose to use accrued vacation days and/or accrued floating holidays in order to be paid during all or part of a leave that would otherwise be unpaid.
An employee’s health and dental coverage will be maintained during FMLA leave under the conditions that would apply if the employee had continued to work, and the employee must continue to pay the portion they normally pay toward the medical and
dental benefits premium. During paid FMLA, the premiums are deducted from the employee's pay as usual. During an unpaid FMLA leave, the required premium continues to be payable and the Benefits Department notifies the employee about how to make payments
and when payments are due.
Returning to Work, Lactation Space, and Child Care Resources
A fitness-for-duty certification from a doctor must be provided at least two weeks before the scheduled date of return. If receipt of certification is not timely, the employee’s
return to work may be delayed. Generally, an employee who takes FMLA leave will be able to return to the same position or a position with equivalent status, pay, benefits, and other employment terms. The position will be the same or virtually identical
in terms of pay, benefits, and working conditions. The New School may choose to exempt certain key employees from this requirement and not return them to the same or a similar position.
The New School offers lactation spaces for nursing parents to comfortably and conveniently pump while at work. The Caregivers Support Map is a valuable resource designed to assist caregivers in finding lactation rooms and changing tables within our facilities. You can reserve a lactation booth here.
The New School's Employee Assistance Program also offers support, guidance and resources on child care.
Long-Term Disability
The New School provides a Long-Term Disability (LTD) Plan through the Standard Life Insurance Company of New York. This benefit is paid for entirely by the university. Coverage under the LTD Plan begins the first
of the month following three months of continuous employment dated from the day the employee began working in a position eligible for LTD benefits.
Approval of benefits is subject to the long-term disability carrier’s approval. If you are approved for benefits, you may receive 60 percent of your pre-disability earnings, not to exceed a benefit of $15,000 per month, less the sum of benefits from other
sources including, but not limited to, Social Security benefits and workers’ compensation benefits. Long-Term Disability benefits generally end upon your attaining age 65 (later in limited instances) or until the time you are
no longer disabled, if sooner.
The LTD benefit durations are as follows:
Age When Disability Starts | Age or Duration Maximum |
---|
59 or younger | Age 65 |
60–64 | Five years |
65–68 | Age 70 |
69 or older | One year |
An approved long-term disability claim will lead to termination of employment and benefits.
For more information about the LTD Plan, refer to the Long-Term Disability Certificate and Plan Summary.
Workers’ Compensation Insurance
Workers’ Compensation Insurance provides cash benefits and/or coverage for medical care to employees who are injured or become ill as a direct result of their job with The New School. You must notify
your supervisor and contact the Security Office to file an incident report about the injury and the way it occurred as soon as possible. Failure to file an incident report in writing within 30 days after the incident may cause you to lose the right
to Workers’ Compensation benefits. Incident reports are available at all security guard desks. Employees who qualify for Workers’ Compensation benefits will receive pay continuation according to the requirements of state law and our insurance plan.
Please refer to our Workers’ Compensation Notice for more information concerning your rights in regard to Workers’ Compensation
benefits.