NY Paid Family Leave (NYPFL)
Effective January 2018, New York’s Paid Family Leave program is one of the most generous in the country. It runs through the Workers’ Compensation Board and is funded by mandatory employee payroll contributions — not by the employer.1
Who’s eligible:
- Most private-sector employees in NY (full-time, part-time, seasonal, gig workers in some classifications)
- Eligibility threshold: 26 consecutive weeks of work (full-time) or 175 days (part-time) with a covered employer
- Public-sector workers in NY are not automatically covered — state and local government must opt in (most have)
- Self-employed workers can voluntarily opt into the program
What NYPFL covers, for caregiver purposes:
- Caring for a family member with a serious health condition — including a parent, grandparent, parent-in-law, child, spouse, or domestic partner
- Up to 12 weeks per year (since 2021; earlier phase-in years had fewer weeks)
- Wage replacement at 67% of average weekly wage, capped at 67% of the state average weekly wage (2025 cap: ~$1,177/week)
- Job-protected leave with continued health insurance
- Can be taken intermittently
Federal FMLA in NY
FMLA provides up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave per year to care for a parent with a serious health condition, with job protection and continued health-insurance coverage.2FMLA applies in NY on the same federal terms as everywhere:
- Employer must have 50+ employees within 75 miles of your worksite
- You must have worked 12+ months and 1,250+ hours for the employer
For NY caregivers, FMLA matters mostly as job-protection infrastructure layered alongside the paid leave of NYPFL.
NY Long-Term Care Insurance Credit
NY offers a state income-tax credit for long-term-care insurance premiums under Tax Law §606(aa).3 Specifically:
- 20% of LTC insurance premiums paid during the tax year
- Refundable for filers with NY AGI under the income threshold (~$250,000 for joint filers); non-refundable above
- Applies to premiums for either NY taxpayer’s own LTC insurance or for premiums paid on a parent’s LTC insurance if the parent is a dependent or if the taxpayer paid the premium on the parent’s behalf
For a family paying $4,000/year in LTC insurance premiums, this is an $800 state tax savings annually — meaningful, and consistently under-claimed.
Where to find free help in NY
NY State Office for the Aging (NYSOFA) coordinates with 59 county-based Area Agencies on Aging across the state. Several resources every NY caregiver should know:4
- NY Connects— 1-800-342-9871 or nyconnects.ny.gov. NY’s no-wrong-door portal for long-term services and supports. Operates statewide; one phone call gets you the local AAA.
- EISEP (Expanded In-Home Services for the Elderly).NY Elder Law §214. Non-Medicaid in-home care services for adults 60+ with functional needs — household help, personal care, case management. Sliding-scale fees based on income; available regardless of asset level (unlike Medicaid).
- Caregiver Resource Centers. NYSOFA-funded centers offer respite, support groups, and care planning.
- NY Medicaid Choice / 1-888-401-6582. Free MLTC enrollment counseling.
- HIICAP? / 1-800-701-0501. Free Medicare counseling (covered in our NY Medicare guide).
The personal-care agreement (and why NY families need one)
If you’re providing meaningful care to your NY parent and they pay you for it, the arrangement has Medicaid implications. Without a written personal-care agreement, payments to a family caregiver look like gifts — which triggers NY’s 60-month nursing-home look-back?(and the eventual 30-month community look-back). With a properly drafted agreement establishing fair-market-value compensation, the payments are legitimate income and don’t affect Medicaid eligibility.
Under CDPAP? (covered in our NY Medicaid guide), eligible family members can be formally hired as paid aides through a Medicaid mechanism — another option that avoids the look-back issue entirely.
What to do this month
- Check your NYPFL eligibility through your employer’s HR or the state’s online tool. Most NY private-sector employees are covered automatically.
- If you or your parent pays LTC insurance premiums, claim the NY LTC Insurance Credit on next year’s state return (Form IT-249).
- Call NY Connects (1-800-342-9871) to map the local AAA and EISEP services in your parent’s county. The first call is free and unbiased.
- If money flows from your parent to you for caregiving, get a written personal-care agreement in place — before the Medicaid application is needed, not after.