Maybe it’s a heavy storm that floods your subway station. Or an important housing court appearance. Maybe it’s your child, who wakes up with a fever and needs to stay home.
There’s no way to calendar life’s unexpected moments, no itinerary to plan ahead. When crises arrive on the doorstep (and they inevitability do), no New Yorker should have to calculate whether they can afford to miss work to take care of themselves and their family.
For too long, that’s exactly the choice workers have faced, one that forces people to weigh their health, their safety, and their loved ones against their livelihoods.
But New York City is done asking our workers to make that choice.
That’s the very precept behind New York City’s recently expanded protected time off law, which is enforced by the Department of Consumer and Worker Protection, the agency I oversee. New Yorkers deserve the decency of knowing that when life happens, their job will still be there when they return.
As of February 2026, every worker in New York City is guaranteed an additional 32 hours of protected time off, available immediately—not after weeks of accrual, not after getting special permission by a supervisor, but on day one of a job and again at the start of every calendar year. That’s on top of the 40 to 56 hours of paid protected time off that most workers already earn each year, meaning New Yorkers can now rely on as much as 72 to 88 total hours of protected leave annually when they need it most.
No worker should have to wait to “earn” the ability to respond to a crisis that can’t wait, because life doesn’t fit into narrow categories. Workers can also now use protected time to care for a child during school closures or childcare disruptions, support a family or household member with a disability, attend housing or benefits hearings, respond to extreme weather or public emergencies, or address needs related to workplace violence.
This is about recognizing a simple truth: stability at home creates stability at work. When workers have the time and space they need to handle life’s most urgent moments, they come back stronger, more focused, and more secure. They come back participating in an economy that is more humane; an economy that is, in short, better.
Employers are obligated to provide and abide by these new protections. If they don’t, there will be consequences; DCWP plans to enforce these rights diligently, on behalf of all New Yorkers, regardless of their immigration status. After all, a right that exists only on paper is no right at all.
So, to workers across the five boroughs: know that these hours are yours. Know that you can exercise them whenever you need them. If you experience pushback or are having issues using your Protected Time Off, visit us online at nyc.gov/workers. DCWP will step in.
We will not hesitate to pursue relief for all workers and hold bad actors accountable. Because in New York City, showing up for your life should never cost you your job.
