NYS Paid Family Leave (PFL) Waivers & Forms Available for Employers

Forms pertinent to the administration of the NY Paid Family Leave (PFL) program continue to trickle-in from New York State.

Available as of last week are the general application form (PFL-1) which will be coupled with the claim form specific to your leave request – one to bond with a newborn or newly placed child, one to care for a family member with a serious health condition and one to request leave for qualified military exigency.

The claim forms are essentially templates; each carrier is likely to have changes to the format and will customize with contact information and other relevant information.  These forms are helpful in mapping-out the process and crafting the PFL policy, but should not be distributed for use until provided by your carrier.

The PFL waiver and applications to provide voluntary coverage were released earlier this month.  As a reminder, the PFL waiver is limited use. Employees shall be provided the option to file a PFL waiver “when an employer and employee know at the date of hire that the employee’s schedule will not allow them to become eligible for PFL benefits.”

For employees whose full-time schedule is less than 26 consecutive weeks (such as summer help) or whose part-time schedule will not work 175 days in a 52-week period (such as a person who works one or maybe two days a week):

• Waiver is at the employee’s election and cannot be applied automatically by the employer
• The covered employer shall keep a copy of the fully executed waiver on file for the duration of employment
• There is a specific process for revoking the waiver with any change in schedule that would allow the employee to be eligible for the PFL benefit

All forms and more information can be found here: Paid Family Leave Employer and Employee Forms