Paternity Leave in New York: 12 Weeks at 67% of Your Pay

New York pays fathers 12 weeks of parental leave at 67% of their wages, up to $1,228.53 a week in 2026. Same weeks as mothers, same rate, and it does not come out of your partner's allowance.

That last part is the one that surprises people. I've had the "wait, we each get twelve?" conversation more than once, and the answer is yes, you each get twelve. A New York couple has 24 weeks between them.

I'm not a New Yorker. I'm in Connecticut, and my wife and I ran our own leave through the tool we built. But New York's program is the one dads ask us about most, partly because it's generous and partly because it's filed in an unusual way that trips people up. So here's the whole thing.

What you get, exactly

Twelve weeks of Paid Family Leave in a 52-week period, at 67% of your average weekly wage, capped at $1,228.53 per week.

That cap isn't arbitrary. It's 67% of the New York State Average Weekly Wage, which is $1,833.63 for 2026. If you earn more than the state average, your replacement rate quietly drops below 67% because the cap binds first. Someone earning $2,500 a week still receives $1,228.53, which is about 49% of their pay.

Twelve weeks at the cap comes to roughly $14,742. That's real money, and a meaningful share of dads never claim any of it.

Who qualifies

The eligibility test is about hours worked, not months employed, which is friendlier than federal FMLA:

If you work 20 or more hours a week: you're covered after 26 consecutive weeks with your employer.

If you work under 20 hours a week: you're covered after 175 days worked, and they don't have to be consecutive.

Almost all private employers in New York are covered, including small ones. There's no 50-employee threshold the way there is with FMLA. Public employers can opt in, so if you're a government employee, check.

You can use the leave any time in the first 52 weeks after your child arrives. Birth, adoption, and foster placement all count. You do not have to take it immediately, and there's an argument for not taking it immediately, which I'll get to.

The filing part that confuses everyone

Here's where New York differs from most states: you don't file with a state agency. There's no state portal to log into.

New York PFL is funded through insurance. Your employer buys a policy, usually bundled with their statutory disability coverage, and you file your claim with that insurance carrier. Ask HR who the carrier is, then get form PFL-1 (the request) and PFL-2 (bonding certification). You fill out your part, your employer completes theirs, and the carrier processes it. Give your employer 30 days notice before your leave starts when the timing is foreseeable.

If you go looking for a New York state website to submit your claim, you'll waste an afternoon. Plenty of people have.

One more wrinkle worth knowing: New York's disability benefit, DBL, is a separate and much older program that covers your own medical condition. It pays 50% of your weekly wage but caps out at $170 a week, a figure that has not moved in decades. Dads generally aren't touching DBL, since you're claiming bonding leave rather than disability. I mention it because the two get confused constantly, and because if you're the birthing parent in New York, that $170 cap is a genuinely unpleasant surprise. It's also why a lot of New York employers buy supplemental disability coverage on top.

Why sequencing matters more than the weeks

Both parents can take PFL for the same child. If you and your partner work for the same employer, ask whether they allow you both to be out at once, because that is the one case where an employer can have a say.

Either way, taking your weeks together is usually the weaker play. Twelve weeks each, taken back to back, means somebody is home with your kid for about six months. Taken at the same time, you get three months with two parents home and then a cliff.

There's no right answer. Some families want the overlap early, especially after a difficult delivery, and that's a legitimate call. My point is only that it should be a decision, and for most couples it isn't one. Each parent's HR department sees half the picture, so nobody sits down with both halves.

If you want to see what that comparison looks like with actual numbers, our sample plan walks through a full two-parent scenario week by week.

Three things to do

Ask HR who your PFL carrier is. Not whether the company offers it. Who the carrier is, and how to get form PFL-1. It's a two-line email.

Confirm how your employer's own parental leave policy interacts with PFL. Stacked, supplemental, or offset. If your company offers paid parental leave on top of the state benefit, the coordination pattern decides whether you get both or just the larger one. That difference runs to five figures.

Decide with your partner when each of you takes your twelve weeks. Before the baby, while you can still think in complete sentences.

The full New York PFL guide has the filing timeline and eligibility detail. If you'd rather just find out what you personally qualify for, the free check takes about a minute. And if you're comparing states, paternity leave across the country is worth a look, because New York is near the top and most places are not close.

If you're outside New York and wondering what dads get where you live, start here.