Mayor Mamdani Announces Mayor Expansion of Protected Time Off for $4.3 Million Workers and New Data-Driven Enforcement Strategy

 

Protected Time Off categories expanded to include child care; 32 hours of unpaid leave immediately upon hire  

 

Today’s event with Commissioner Levine, Councilmember Nurse and Amazon workers attempting to unionize was pooled, footage available HERE 

Today, Mayor Zohran Kwame Mamdani was joined by New York City Department of Consumer and Worker Protection (DCWP) Commissioner Sam Levine to celebrate the expansion of the City’s Protected Time Off Law, formerly known as the Paid Safe and Sick Leave Law, and to announce new enforcement actions, that including compliance warnings to 56,000 employers and a new data-driven strategy to ensure workers can use the time the law guarantees.  

  

“New Yorkers shouldn’t have to choose between doing their job and caring for their family, protecting their safety, or keeping their housing secure,” said Mayor Mamdani. “Today, we’re putting employers on notice -- sending compliance warnings to 56,000 businesses and launching a data-driven enforcement strategy to make sure workers can actually use the time they’ve earned. When life happens, your job shouldn’t be the thing that falls apart.”  

  

Effective Sunday, Feb. 22, 2026, Local Law 145 requires employers to make an additional 32 hours of unpaid protected time off immediately available upon hire and again on the first day of each calendar year. The update guarantees instant access to protected time off and protects employees from discipline if they have used their paid protected time balances.   

  

The law also expands the reasons employees may use protected time off to include:  

  

•   Caring for a child, including school holidays and child care disruptions  

•   Caring for a family or household member with a disability  

•   Attending benefits or housing appointments or hearings  

•   Staying home during public emergencies declared by the government, such as snowstorms or power outages   

•   Addressing needs related to workplace violence  

  

“New York City has some of the nation’s strongest protected time off laws, and now they are even stronger. This makes all the difference for working New Yorkers facing a child care  emergency or anything else life throws at us,” said DCWP Commissioner Sam Levine. “By expanding protected time off and ensuring immediate access to additional hours, we are building an economy that puts people over profits.”  

 

The announcement was made at Angelo’s Deli in Maspeth, where Mayor Mamdani, Commissioner Levine, and Council Member Sandy Nurse joined 12 Amazon workers organizing with the Teamsters for a coffee roundtable conversation about the realities of taking time off in low-wage, high-pressure workplaces. The Mayor listened as workers described balancing child care, housing appointments, and unpredictable work schedules.  

 

Protected Time Off Law  

  

Under the City’s Protected Time Off Law, in effect since 2014, most employees have the right to up to 40 or 56 hours of paid protected time off per year. Employers must also provide 20 hours of paid prenatal leave in addition to protected time off.  

  

In addition to the new reasons added under Local Law 145, employees may use Protected Time Off for:  

•   Medical care or to recover from an illness or injury  

•   Caring for a family member who is sick or has a medical appointment  

•   Needs related to domestic violence and certain other crimes  

  

Enforcing the Protected Time Off Law  

  

Today DCWP also launched an enforcement blitz, sending letter to more than 56,000 employers across the five boroughs, including all city restaurants, prior DCWP enforcement targets and DCWP licensees. The letters outline the law’s requirements, employee notice obligations, compliance tools and consequences for violations.   

  

Employers that violate the law face employee relief and civil penalties ranging from $250 to $2,500 per employee, plus back pay.  

  

New Data-Driven Enforcement Strategy 

 

In tandem with Local Law 145, DCWP released a new report outlining a data-driven enforcement strategy to support companywide investigations when employers illegally restrict Protected Time Off. The approach compares employers’ paid sick leave use rates with national data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s annual National Health Interview Survey (NHIS). The report finds that the need to use sick leave is universal across industries and demographics. If employer records show unusually low use rates, DCWP will treat that as strong evidence of potential violations and, effective immediately, pursue enforcement on behalf of all affected employees.   

 

Employers that fail to offer compliant protected time off must pay each affected employee at least $500 per year, plus an equal amount in civil penalty. For example, an employer with 100 employees could owe $300,000 for violations over three years, divided evenly between employee relief and civil penalties. Subsequent violations may result in penalties of up to $1,000 per employee, per year.  

 

Employer Tools  

 

DCWP encourages employers to conduct self-audit and eliminate unlawful barriers to use. The agency has created a Protected Time Off Usage Compliance Tracker, available at nyc.gov/dcwp.   

Common violations that can lead to low use rates, include: Failing to offer a protected time off benefit.  

•   Nonexistent or insufficient written policies  

•   Unlawful administration systems. Absence control policies that discipline workers for last-minute callouts or “no call, no show.” Unlawful restrictions on employees’ use of sick leave   

  

Worker Protections  

 

Employers must provide written notice of workers’ rights to Protected Time Off and paid prenatal leave. Advance notice may be required only for foreseeable uses, such as scheduled medical appointments or court hearings. Workers do not have to provide advance notice for unexpected needs, including illness or child care disruptions, and do not have to disclose details about why they used leave. Documentation may be required only after four or more consecutive workdays of leave.   

  

“These expansions respond to the real challenges New Yorkers face – from the rising cost of child care to extreme weather emergencies,” said Mayor Mamdani. “No one should have to choose between caring for themselves or their loved ones and keeping their job. In New York City, we are making sure they don’t have to.”