NYC announces more protected time off for workers
The new rule ensures that workers receive an extra 32 hours of unpaid time off as soon as they get hired, then again on the first day of each calendar year.
More Stories
Mayor Zohran Mamdani announced Friday that working New Yorkers are receiving more protected time off.
“They are faced with impossible choices between their lives and their livelihoods,” said Mamdani, who made the announcement while meeting with union workers. “They’re faced between trying to keep their jobs and then trying to take care of their families.”
The new rule goes into effect Sunday and impacts more than three million employees.
It ensures that workers receive an extra 32 hours of unpaid time off as soon as they get hired, then again on the first day of each calendar year.
Brooklyn Councilmember Sandy Nurse (D-37th District) said the new law protects employees from retaliation.
“You should be able to go handle your business, take care of people who depend on you and keep your job,” said Nurse.
The news came as a relief for James, an Amazon union worker, who told Mamdani that the mother of his four children is battling brain cancer.
“It would help if I did have a little bit of extra time at the job where I didn’t have to feel a little bit guilty as if I could possibly lose my job by trying not to lose a life of the family,” said James.
The city’s Department of Consumer and Worker Protection will be enforcing the new rule.
DCWP Commissioner Sam Levine said they are notifying 56,000 employers about the change, and that businesses can face fines up to $2,500 dollars per employee if they do not comply.
