Private employers across New York are gearing up to implement the state's new Paid Family Leave law on Jan. 1, 2018.

Paid Family Leave allows employees to take time off for the birth or adoption of a child, to care for a close relative with a serious medical condition or to raise a family while a spouse is deployed for active military service. Employees receive a percentage of their average weekly wage, but limited to an equal percentage of the state's average weekly wage. They also maintain their health insurance benefits, and they are assured of reinstatement when their leave ends.

New York is phasing in its Paid Family Leave over four years. During that time, the amount of paid leave and the percentage of wages paid to the employee increase as follows:

• 2018: eight weeks of leave, 50 percent of employee's average weekly wage, up to 50 percent of state average weekly wage

• 2019: 10 weeks of leave, 55 percent of employee's average weekly wage, up to 50 percent of state average weekly wage

• 2020: 10 weeks of leave, 60 percent of employee's average weekly wage, up to 60 percent of state average weekly wage

• 2021: 12 weeks of leave, 67 percent of employee's average weekly wage, up to 67 percent of state average weekly wage

Employees are eligible for Paid Family Leave after 26 weeks on the job (for those working 20 or more hours per week) or 175 days (for those working less than 20 hours). Employers may require employees to continue contributing towards their company's health insurance plan while on Paid Family Leave.

Employees are asked to give 30 days' advance notice to their employers when requesting Paid Family Leave, if possible. Employers must give a claim form to the employee, or else give the employee information on obtaining a form from the company's insurer—which pays for Paid Family Leave—or the state's Paid Family Leave website. Employers must then pass along pertinent information to their insurers, such as the dates the employee will be out of work and how much the pay will be. The insurers have 18 days to process the claim and issue an official determination of benefits.

The majority of insurance carriers include Paid Family Leave as part of their disability insurance policy packages, so employers may discover that they are already covered. If they are not covered, employers must absorb an increase in their monthly premium payments to get the additional coverage. Employers can authorize a small payroll deduction to cover any additional costs, but it can be no more than 0.126 percent of an employee's weekly wage and is capped at 0.126 percent of the state's average weekly wage.

Employers have the right to hire temporary workers to fill in for an employee who is on Paid Family Leave, but this should be stated up front. If an employer decides to retain the temporary employee, they must offer the returning employee a comparable job. If the returning employee is not reinstated, employers could be brought before the New York State Division of Human Rights for discrimination or retaliation claims, which could lead to fines and associated court costs.

If they have not already done so, employers must display posters explaining Paid Family Leave coverage for their employees and should state their company's policies in their human resources handbooks. Employers should also take the time to find out how Paid Family Leave interacts with other federal, state and local laws such as the Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA), the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA), New York State Human Rights Law and New York City's Paid Sick Leave law. For instance, FMLA allows an employer to require an employee use FMLA leave concurrently with other types of paid or unpaid sick leave. Employers should consult a labor and employment attorney to determine their best practices for implementing Paid Family Leave, since they must maintain compliance with all other laws.

With a little more than two months remaining before New Year's Day, employers need to prepare now for the implementation of Paid Family Leave.

Michael W. Macomber is a partner at Tully Rinckey where he is the section chair of the firm's New York state employment law practice group. Nicholas Devyatkin, an associate at the firm, represents employees in federal, state and private employment law matters.