Paid vacation could become city mandate

NEW YORK DAILY NEWS

Monday, March 31, 2014, 8:53 PM

Mark Bonifacio/New York Daily News Councilman Jumaane Williams (D-Brooklyn) introduced a bill last week that would mandate paid vacation time for city employees.

Paid sick days could be just the beginning – a city councilman is pushing a bill to force businesses to give their employees paid vacation time.

The bill introduced by Councilman Jumaane Williams (D-Brooklyn) last week would mandate a week of paid vacation after an employee has been on the job for six months. It would apply to businesses with 10 or more workers.

The requirement would gradually rise to three weeks’ vacation under the legislation, first reported by Crain’s New York.

Williams said New Yorkers – like many Americans – are vacation-starved. “The nation is behind the times,” he said. “We work basically 365 days a year. Some people never go on vacation. I think it’s a problem.”

Vacation days would have to roll over from one year to the next unless the employee gets paid for the unused days.

William Alatrist//NYC Council The bill would give employees a week of paid vacation after six months of employment, gradually accuring to three weeks.

In the new City Council’s first legislative act, it passed a dramatic expansion of paid sick leave which take effect Tuesday. Employers with five or more workers are now required to give five paid sick days a year.

Kathy Wylde of the pro-business Partnership for New York City said while the sick days rules could be justified as public health measures, there was no reason for the government to interfere on behalf of vacation.

“Clearly this is ratcheting up the progressive cause to a whole new level. There’s a point at which I think they will lose all credibility,” she said.

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