As we have previously reported, on May 24, 2017, the New York Workers Compensation Board issued revisions to its proposed rules for implementation of the New York Paid Family Leave Law (“PFLL”).  While the public comment period for the proposed revisions closed on June 23, we are still awaiting publication of the final regulations.

The proposed regulations (in both their initial and revised forms) state that employers would be permitted to begin implementing the necessary wage deductions for employee contributions under the PFLL as early as July 1, 2017 (for coverage beginning on January 1, 2018).  However, with the July 1 date having arrived and no finalized regulations in place, employers are left in the tenuous position of having to decide whether to await publication of the final regulations before implementing the deductions or beginning the deductions as of July 1—a move that carries some risk in the event that the final published regulations take a different approach to when deductions may begin.

While it is relatively unlikely that the July 1 date will be changed in the final regulations (particularly as no change was made to the date between the initial proposed regulations and the May 24 revisions), employers should still proceed with caution in the absence of final word on the issue from the Workers Compensation Board.

We will continue to monitor this issue and report on any further developments.