Medical Leave as a Reasonable Accommodation in New York

Yes: time off for treatment or recovery can be a reasonable accommodation for a disability under federal, New York State and New York City law, and the federal FMLA regulation says the FMLA does not modify the disability discrimination laws, so the question can remain open after other leave runs out.⁠^{[1][9][10][2]} The three layers part ways on leave with no end date. The New York Court of Appeals has said that indefinite leave is not a reasonable accommodation under the State law, while under the City law no accommodation is categorically excluded.⁠^[4]

Where does the right to leave as an accommodation come from?

None of the three anti-discrimination statutes has a section titled "medical leave." The right comes from each law's general duty to accommodate a disability, read together with regulations, agency guidance and court decisions.

Federal law. The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) covers employers with 15 or more employees.⁠^[11] Under the ADA, discrimination includes not making reasonable accommodations to the known limitations of a qualified employee with a disability, unless the employer can demonstrate undue hardship.⁠^[12] EEOC enforcement guidance, which states the agency's position on the ADA, says that permitting the use of accrued paid leave or unpaid leave is a form of reasonable accommodation when an employee's disability makes it necessary.⁠^[1]

New York State law. The New York State Human Rights Law (NYSHRL) covers all employers within the state and makes it an unlawful discriminatory practice to refuse reasonable accommodations to an employee's known disabilities.⁠^[13][14] The Division of Human Rights' regulation lists "adjustments to work schedule for treatment or recovery" among possible accommodations.⁠^[9] For a temporary disability, the same regulation protects a current employee who will be able to do the job satisfactorily after "a reasonable time for recovery."⁠^[15]

New York City law. The New York City Human Rights Law (NYCHRL) makes it unlawful not to provide a reasonable accommodation that enables a person with a disability to satisfy the essential requisites of a job, where the disability is known or should have been known.⁠^[16] In employment it generally applies to employers with four or more persons.⁠^[17] The NYC Commission on Human Rights, in its December 2025 disability guidance, says paid or unpaid leave may be offered as a temporary accommodation where no other accommodation can be made.⁠^[18]

How do the three layers compare?

Question	Federal (ADA)	New York State (NYSHRL)	New York City (NYCHRL)
Which employers	15 or more employees⁠[11]	All employers within the state⁠[13]	Generally four or more persons⁠[17]
Where leave appears	EEOC guidance: accrued paid leave or unpaid leave⁠[1]	Regulation: schedule adjustments for treatment or recovery; a reasonable time for recovery from a temporary disability⁠[9][15]	Commission guidance: leave, including a right to return to the original position absent undue hardship⁠[10]
Who has the burden	In the Second Circuit, the employee as to the existence of a workable accommodation; the employer as to undue hardship⁠[6][12]	At trial, the employee proves that a reasonable accommodation existed⁠[19]	The employer has the burden of proving undue hardship⁠[5]
Leave with no end date	No duty to hold a position open indefinitely (Second Circuit)⁠[1]	Indefinite leave is not a reasonable accommodation (Court of Appeals)⁠[4]	Not categorically excluded; assessed case by case⁠[4][10]

Can I get more leave after FMLA or sick time runs out?

The federal Family and Medical Leave Act gives an eligible employee 12 workweeks of leave in a 12-month period, and it applies only to employers with 50 or more employees and to employees who meet its length-of-service and hours tests.⁠^[20][21]

The Department of Labor's FMLA regulation says nothing in the FMLA modifies any federal or State law prohibiting disability discrimination.⁠^[2] It also says an employer provides leave under whichever statutory provision gives the employee the greater rights, and it contrasts the FMLA's 12 weeks with the ADA, which "allows an indeterminate amount of leave, barring undue hardship, as a reasonable accommodation."⁠^[3] In other words, the ADA sets no fixed number of weeks.

EEOC guidance on the ADA addresses "no-fault" leave policies, under which employees are automatically terminated after a set period of leave. It says that if an employee with a disability needs additional unpaid leave as a reasonable accommodation, the employer has to modify the policy unless another effective accommodation would let the person perform the job or the additional leave would cause undue hardship.⁠^[22]

A New York appellate court has addressed a fixed leave rule under State and City law. In Phillips v. City of New York, an employee had been refused additional unpaid medical leave because it was granted only to permanent civil service employees. On a motion to dismiss, the First Department reinstated her NYSHRL and NYCHRL claims, holding that both laws require an employer to consider a requested accommodation through an individualized, interactive process.⁠^[23][24] The Court of Appeals later cautioned in Jacobsen that, under the State law, an employee does not win solely because the employer skipped the interactive process; the employee still has to prove that a reasonable accommodation existed.⁠^[25]

The leave programs themselves are compared in the guide to FMLA, Paid Family Leave and sick leave in New York.

What do the cases say about open-ended leave?

Federal. In Graves v. Finch Pruyn & Co., the Second Circuit repeated that the ADA's accommodation duty does not require an employer to hold an injured employee's position open indefinitely, while treating a request for a finite period (two weeks in that case) as one that can be reasonable.⁠^[1] EEOC guidance draws a related line: an employer cannot claim undue hardship solely because an employee can give only an approximate return date, but a request with no fixed return date can amount to undue hardship where the employer cannot tell how long it would have to hold the position open or plan for the absence.⁠^[26]

New York State. In Romanello v. Intesa Sanpaolo, S.p.A. (2013), an employee told his employer that his return date was "indeterminate." The Court of Appeals held that this did not state a claim under the State law, because "[i]ndefinite leave is not considered a reasonable accommodation under the State HRL."⁠^[4] The NYSHRL's definition of disability in employment is limited to disabilities that, with reasonable accommodation, do not prevent the person from performing the job in a reasonable manner.⁠^[27]

New York City. In the same decision the Court of Appeals contrasted the City law, under which it is the employer's burden to prove undue hardship and no accommodation, including indefinite leave, is categorically excluded, and it reinstated the City-law claim.⁠^[4][28] The Commission's guidance repeats that point, says a return date may be approximate and may need to change, and says each request is assessed case by case.⁠^[10] The City law still gives the employer defenses: it can prove undue hardship, and it can prove as an affirmative defense that the person could not, even with reasonable accommodation, satisfy the essential requisites of the job.⁠^[5][19]

Common misstatement: "Indefinite leave is never a reasonable accommodation in New York." That describes the State law after Romanello. It does not describe the City law, which the same decision treated differently.⁠^[4]

Do I get my job back, and is the leave paid?

On reinstatement, EEOC guidance on the ADA says an employee granted leave as a reasonable accommodation is entitled to return to the same position unless the employer demonstrates that holding it open would impose an undue hardship; if it would, the employer considers whether it has a vacant, equivalent position for which the employee is qualified.⁠^[22] For New York City, the Commission says leave as an accommodation includes the right to return to the original position where keeping it open does not cause undue hardship.⁠^[10] FMLA leave carries its own right to be restored to the same or an equivalent position.⁠^[29]

On pay, EEOC guidance says an employer does not have to provide paid leave beyond what it provides to similarly situated employees.⁠^[1] Separate New York State programs address income during a medical absence. Statutory disability benefits pay one-half of the weekly wage up to $170 per week, for no more than 26 weeks in any 52 consecutive weeks.⁠^[30] New York State sick leave provides up to 40 or 56 hours a year depending on employer size.⁠^[31] New York Paid Family Leave is for family care and bonding and does not cover the worker's own illness.⁠^[32]

How is a request for leave handled?

1. The request. EEOC guidance on the ADA says a person may ask in plain English and need not mention the ADA or use the phrase "reasonable accommodation."⁠^[33]
2. The conversation. The EEOC's ADA regulation describes an informal, interactive process to identify the person's limitations and the accommodations that could overcome them.⁠^[34] Under the State regulation, the employer has a duty to move forward once the need is known or requested, and the employee has to cooperate in providing medical information necessary to verify the disability or consider the accommodation.⁠^[35]
3. The answer. In New York City, failing to engage in a cooperative dialogue within a reasonable time is itself an unlawful discriminatory practice, and the employer has to provide a written final determination identifying any accommodation granted or denied.⁠^[7][8] The Commission adds that an indeterminate delay may have the same effect as an outright denial.⁠^[36]

EEOC guidance on the ADA says an employee who can give only an approximate return date, or whose return has to be postponed, should stay in regular communication with the employer about progress and any need for more leave.⁠^[26] A written request that gives an expected return date, or the date of the next medical review, is one way to do that. The steps are covered in how to request a reasonable accommodation and in the guide to the interactive process and cooperative dialogue. What an employer may ask a doctor to confirm is covered in medical questions and exams.

Can I be punished for asking for leave?

Under the State law, retaliating against a person because the person "requested a reasonable accommodation" is an unlawful discriminatory practice; those words were added to Executive Law § 296(7) by a law signed on December 5, 2025, which the Legislature described as clarifying existing law.⁠^[37][38] The City law lists requesting a reasonable accommodation among its protected activities as well.⁠^[39] The federal ADA makes it unlawful to coerce, intimidate, threaten or interfere with a person in the exercise of ADA rights.⁠^[40] For a job loss during an absence, see fired while on medical leave and retaliation for taking leave.

What do people commonly get wrong?

• "A small employer has no leave obligations." The State accommodation duty applies to all employers within the state, with no minimum employee count.⁠^[13][14]
• "Leave is the first accommodation an employer should offer." For New York City, the Commission says employers prioritize accommodations that keep the employee in the current position.⁠^[18]
• "If the employer never discussed my request, I win." Under the federal ADA in the Second Circuit, failure to engage in an interactive process is not a claim by itself without evidence that an accommodation was possible; the City law treats the failure to hold a cooperative dialogue as its own violation.⁠^[41][7]

Time limits for these claims differ by layer and by forum and are collected in the guide to New York employment claim deadlines. What counts as too much difficulty or expense for an employer is covered in undue hardship, and shorter conditions are covered in temporary injuries and short-term conditions.