New York is one of only five states that provides state-mandated temporary disability insurance (TDI) benefits to workers who are unable to work due to a non-work-related illness or injury. The program includes coverage for pregnant and postpartum women.

Pregnant women are eligible to receive NY TDI benefit payments beginning up to 4 weeks before their scheduled delivery due date, and 6 to 8 more weeks following the child’s birth. Women who deliver by cesarean section are eligible to claim the longer of the two periods to enable them to fully recover from the surgery.

The period of benefit eligibility will be extended if the woman remains unable to work due to birth-related impairments such as postpartum depression. The maximum period anyone can receive TDI payments under New York law is 26 weeks.

One Week Waiting Period for NY TDI (See Paid Family Leave (PFL) No Waiting)

When someone files a claim for temporary disability benefits in New York, the benefits coverage begins on the 8th day. The one-week waiting period is required to prevent claims from being filed when a worker becomes ill or injured for only a couple of days. Many employers already provide paid sick days that would cover those shorter absences.

How Much Can You Receive from New York TDI?

Under the rules for New York temporary disability insurance, a claimant can receive 50 percent of their average weekly earnings but no more than $170 per week.

NY Paid Family Leave Pays Higher Benefits than NY TDI

While TDI’s maximum benefit cap of $170 is not substantial enough to support a New York worker by itself, pregnant women and postpartum mothers are entitled to file a claim for Paid Family Leave (PFL) benefits which will pay up to 67 percent of the person’s average weekly pay up to a weekly cap of $1,131.08 in 2023.

The NY PFL law also requires your employer to continue your health insurance coverage under the same terms as when you were working for the full 12-week period during which you are out on PFL.

NY PFL benefits are available to any New York employee working a regular schedule of more than 20 hours per week after 26 consecutive weeks before the first day of claimed leave. If an employee’s regular work schedule is less than 20 hours per week, then they can begin their NY PFL after they work 175 days.

New York Paid Family Leave benefits were established to permit parents to bond with a newborn, adopted, or fostered child. But many more situations are covered than parents welcoming a new child into the family. Paid Family Leave is also an essential source of continued pay when a sick family member requires care.

An employee is entitled to take up to 12 weeks of PFL to care for a spouse, domestic partner, sibling, child, parent, parent-in-law, grandparent, or grandchild. The law also covers those who may need to care for a seriously ill family member when the person needing care’s own relative is deployed overseas in the military.

TDI Does Not Protect Your Job – NY Paid Family Leave Does Protect Your Job

If you are absent from work while receiving temporary disability benefits (NY TDI), your employer is not required to protect your job for you. They may hire a permanent replacement for you if they wish to unless they must guarantee your job is safe under the terms of another state or federal law.

Your job is safe if you file a Paid Family Leave benefit claim. Your employer must preserve your place on the job. Other laws also guarantee that your job will be protected if you are absent due to one of the covered criteria.

The federal Family and Medical Leave Act also provides for you to take unpaid leave to bond with a newly born child, an adopted child, or a newly placed foster child. Workers are also covered if they experience an exigent situation related to a close family member’s active military duty. The coverage continues for a period of 12 weeks but may extend to 26 weeks if the employee is caring for a covered military service member who is their spouse, child, parent, or next of kin.

Combining NY Temporary Disability with NY Paid Family Leave

You may also combine claims under the New York TDI, and the NY Paid Family Leave programs. For example, a pregnant woman could take four weeks of TDI before she delivered her child and six weeks of bonding time following the birth. Then she could take 12 weeks of Paid Family Leave for a total of 22 weeks. The period of combined TDI and PFL cannot exceed the maximum of 26 weeks.