Legislative Memo on Temporary Disability Insurance / Paid Family Leave

Most New Yorkers do not have the ability to take time off from work to address their own serious health needs – whether to undergo cancer treatments, recover from major injuries or illnesses, or to prevent or recover from a pregnancy loss or neonatal loss – without risking their economic security and taking the chance that they will not have a job to return to. That is because New York’s Temporary Disability Insurance (TDI) program that provides medical leave benefits to New Yorkers who need time off from work to tend to their own health needs has been capped since 1989 at $170/week – far below cost of living in 2023 – and it does not include job protection. S.2821-B (Ramos) / A.4053-B (Solages) would update New York’s medical leave program to create a sustainable paid family and medical leave system that supports New Yorkers in caring for their family members as well as their own health.