New York Disability and Paid Family Leave Insurance: What Employers Must Carry and What It Costs

Most New York employers with employees must carry statutory disability benefits insurance and Paid Family Leave coverage. The usual trigger is having one or more employees working on at least 30 days in a calendar year, and coverage generally becomes required four weeks after the employee's 30th day of work, according to the Workers' Compensation Board (opens in a new tab). Disability Benefits Law coverage, called DBL, pays part of an employee's wages for a qualifying off-the-job injury or illness. Paid Family Leave, called PFL, covers bonding, family-care, and military-family leave. For 2026, PFL pays 67% of average weekly wages (opens in a new tab) up to $1,228.53 per week, and the employee contribution is 0.432% of gross wages up to $411.91 for the year.

Rules for domestic workers, part-time workers, business owners, public employers, remote workers, and exempt classifications change the answer for some businesses, and each is covered below.

Does your New York business need DBL and PFL coverage?

A private employer with one or more employees working on at least 30 days in a calendar year needs both coverages. The 30 days do not have to run back to back. Coverage is generally due four weeks after the employee's 30th day of employment, so the practical step is to count workdays from the first day someone works for you and line up a policy before that deadline, per the Workers' Compensation Board (opens in a new tab).

Private employers that must provide DBL also provide PFL. PFL is usually added to the DBL policy as a rider, so the two come together.

What does NY disability insurance cover?

DBL pays temporary cash benefits to an employee who cannot work because of an injury or illness that does not arise out of the job. The Workers' Compensation Board (opens in a new tab) lists the current terms:

• The benefit is 50% of the employee's average weekly wage, generally based on the last eight weeks worked.
• The weekly maximum is $170. That figure is the long-standing statutory maximum, not a 2026 change.
• A seven-day waiting period applies, so benefits begin on the eighth consecutive day of disability.
• Benefits last up to 26 weeks in any 52 consecutive weeks.
• DBL is a cash benefit. Medical care is the employee's own responsibility.

DBL and PFL cannot be collected at the same time, and together they cannot exceed 26 weeks in a 52-week period, under Workers' Compensation Law § 205 (opens in a new tab).

How does DBL differ from workers' compensation?

Workers' compensation is for a work-related injury or illness. DBL is for a qualifying injury or illness that does not arise out of employment, and PFL is for specified family and military-family reasons, according to the Workers' Compensation Board (opens in a new tab). A business with employees often needs workers' compensation as well as DBL and PFL, since each answers a different situation. Neither DBL nor PFL substitutes for workers' compensation when the cause is work-related, per Workers' Compensation Law § 206 (opens in a new tab).

When does an employee become eligible for DBL and PFL?

An employee's eligibility starts on a different clock than the employer's. Under Workers' Compensation Law § 203 (opens in a new tab), DBL eligibility begins after four consecutive weeks of employment. For PFL, an employee who regularly works 20 or more hours per week needs 26 consecutive weeks of employment. An employee who regularly works fewer than 20 hours per week needs 175 days of employment, and those days do not have to be consecutive, according to the Paid Family Leave program (opens in a new tab).

What does Paid Family Leave pay in 2026?

PFL is job-protected paid leave, and it carries protections for continued health insurance and against retaliation. The Paid Family Leave program (opens in a new tab) and the Workers' Compensation Board's 2026 announcement (opens in a new tab) give these 2026 figures:

The weekly cap is tied to the 2026 statewide average weekly wage of $1,833.63. Three reasons qualify an employee for leave: bonding with a newly born, adopted, or fostered child; caring for a family member with a serious health condition; and assisting loved ones when a spouse, domestic partner, child, or parent is deployed abroad on active military service.

What can employers deduct from payroll?

The two coverages have different payroll limits, and both are caps on what the employee pays, not premium estimates.

For DBL, an employer can collect from each employee 0.5% of wages paid, up to $0.60 per week, according to the Workers' Compensation Board's DB-102 form (opens in a new tab). The employer can waive that contribution. A higher employee contribution requires the employee's agreement and approval under the plan rules.

For PFL in 2026, the employee contribution is 0.432% of gross wages per pay period, capped at $411.91 for the year, per the Paid Family Leave program (opens in a new tab). An employee earning less than the statewide average weekly wage contributes less than the annual maximum, based on actual wages.

The employer covers the cost of the required benefits beyond the lawful employee contributions, under Workers' Compensation Law § 210 (opens in a new tab). A policy's actual premium depends on the business, its payroll, and its workforce, so a licensed carrier or agent is the one to quote it.

Who counts as an employee?

The Workers' Compensation Board (opens in a new tab) treats employees broadly. Full-time, part-time, temporary, seasonal, casual, day-labor, leased, borrowed, unpaid, volunteer, and family workers can all count when the employer controls the work. Most people who work under your supervision, direction, and control are employees, and a contractor label does not settle it. Independent contractors fall outside the law, but classification follows the real relationship.

Some situations have their own rules:

• A sole proprietorship with employees must cover those employees. The owner is not automatically covered as an employee and can choose to cover themselves.
• Partnerships, LLCs, and LLPs without employees generally do not need coverage. Their members and partners are generally not employees for this purpose, though the entity's employees must be covered, according to the Board's guidance on LLC and LLP members (opens in a new tab).
• A one- or two-person corporation can be exempt when the owners hold all the stock and offices and the business has no other employees, workers, shareholders, volunteers, or subcontractors.
• A domestic worker generally must be covered when working at least 20 hours per week for the same household employer and at least 30 days in a calendar year. Coverage is generally not required when the only domestic workers each work fewer than 20 hours per week and do not live on the premises.
• An out-of-state employer needs coverage for employees whose work is localized in New York. A New York resident who only commutes to an out-of-state worksite does not trigger New York coverage by that alone.
• Student interns at for-profit, nonprofit, and government organizations generally need coverage, with stated exceptions.
• Certain sole proprietorships, regular partnerships, individual trustees, individual receivers, and legal representatives can elect a spousal exclusion on the required form. Corporations, LLCs, LLPs, and several other entity types cannot.

Where can employers get DBL and PFL coverage?

Employers have three routes, according to the Workers' Compensation Board (opens in a new tab):

• A policy from an insurance carrier licensed to write New York statutory disability and PFL coverage.
• Board-approved self-insurance (opens in a new tab).
• Voluntary coverage approved by the Board for classes of employees the law does not otherwise require to be covered.

An employer that provides disability benefits voluntarily generally must provide PFL as well, because one is not normally available without the other.

Proof of coverage comes on a specific form. A licensed carrier or an authorized licensed agent issues Form DB-120.1. A self-insured employer uses Form DB-155, issued through the Board's self-insurance process. A broker cannot issue DB-120.1 unless it also holds the carrier authority the Board describes.

What are the penalties for having no coverage?

Waiting for a claim before buying coverage is expensive. The Workers' Compensation Board (opens in a new tab) lists these consequences under Workers' Compensation Law Article 9 (opens in a new tab):

• An administrative penalty of up to 0.5% of payroll during the noncompliance period, plus up to $500 for each period of noncompliance.
• A misdemeanor charge with a fine of $100 to $500, up to one year in jail, or both.
• A fine of $250 to $1,250 for a second violation within five years, and up to $2,500 for a third or later violation within five years.
• Liability for the greater of the disability and PFL claims the Special Fund paid during the noncompliance, or 1% of payroll for that period.
• Personal liability for sole proprietors, partners, and the president, secretary, and treasurer of a corporation.

Those are the DBL and PFL penalties. Separate workers' compensation penalties (opens in a new tab) apply if the employer also lacks workers' compensation coverage.

Questions to ask a carrier or agent

These questions cover the coverage, the paperwork, and the claims process:

• Is the carrier licensed to write New York statutory DBL and PFL coverage?
• Does the policy include both DBL and PFL?
• What is the policy's effective date?
• Has coverage been filed under the correct legal name and FEIN?
• Which employees and legal entities are listed?
• Does the policy address direct, leased, borrowed, temporary, seasonal, part-time, and remote workers?
• How are domestic workers handled?
• Which forms will you receive, including DB-120, PFL-120, and DB-271S?
• How should you post the notices?
• What is the lawful employee deduction for DBL and the current PFL deduction?
• How should an employee submit a DBL or PFL request, and who completes the employer section?
• What proof of coverage is available for a government permit, license, or contract?
• If the policy is canceled or replaced, who files the updated proof of coverage?
• If you are considering self-insurance, what Board approval and security requirements apply?

Frequently asked questions

Is PFL included with NY disability insurance?

For private employers required to provide DBL, PFL coverage generally comes with the DBL policy, often as a rider. Ask the carrier to confirm that the rider is on the policy and to name the effective date.

Who pays for Paid Family Leave?

Employees fund PFL through the payroll deduction, which is adjusted each year and capped at $411.91 for 2026. The employer still arranges the required coverage and handles the notices and forms.

Are LLC members covered?

Members and partners generally are not treated as employees for obtaining DBL and PFL insurance. Employees of the LLC must be covered when the law applies to the business.

What should an employer keep on file?

Keep the carrier and policy records, the proof of coverage, and payroll and employee records. Track lawful payroll deductions, post the DB-120 and PFL-120 notices, and give qualifying employees the PFL waiver form and, when the DBL notice requirement applies, the DB-271S.