How does New York calculate the DBL weekly benefit?

New York's Disability Benefits Law replaces 50 percent of your average weekly wage, but with a long-standing statutory cap of 170 dollars per week. Because that cap is low and unindexed, most workers receive the 170 dollar maximum regardless of income.

How is New York Paid Family Leave different?

PFL is far more generous than DBL. It replaces 67 percent of your average weekly wage, capped at 67 percent of the New York State Average Weekly Wage. PFL covers bonding, family care, and military exigency, and lasts up to 12 weeks.

How is the average weekly wage figured?

New York generally uses the average of your last eight weeks of wages before leave begins to set your average weekly wage. That figure is then run through the DBL or PFL replacement formula.

Why is the DBL benefit so low?

The 170 dollar weekly DBL maximum was set decades ago and has not been raised, so it has not kept pace with wages. New York added the separate, much higher PFL program to provide meaningful paid leave for family reasons.

New York Disability & Paid Family Leave Benefit Calculator

Q: Is this my exact benefit?

No. This is an estimate. Actual benefits depend on your insurer's wage verification, the seven-day DBL waiting period, and the current-year state average weekly wage used for the PFL cap. Confirm with your employer's carrier or the NY Workers' Compensation Board.

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New York runs two very different programs: the old Disability Benefits Law (DBL) with a low fixed cap, and the modern Paid Family Leave (PFL) with a generous wage-indexed cap. They use separate formulas.

How it works

Both start from your average weekly wage (AWW), usually the average of your last eight weeks:

DBL weekly = min(AWW × 50%, $170)
PFL weekly = min(AWW × 67%, 67% of the NY State Average Weekly Wage)

DBL lasts up to 26 weeks; PFL up to 12 weeks. The DBL cap of $170 is fixed by statute and rarely updated, while the PFL cap rises each year with the state average weekly wage.

Example

An AWW of $1,200 gives a DBL benefit of min(600, 170) = $170 per week. The PFL benefit is 1200 × 0.67 = $804 per week, below the PFL cap, so the estimate is $804.

Notes

This is an estimate. Actual benefits depend on insurer wage verification, the seven-day DBL waiting period, and the current-year state average weekly wage used for the PFL cap. Confirm with your employer’s carrier or the NY Workers’ Compensation Board.