CM James Introduces the "Family Leave for Private Employees Act" into City Council!

At yesterday's Stated Council meeting, Council Member Letitia James was pleased to re-introduce Int. 432-2010 into the City Council- the 'Family Leave for Private Employees Act' that would provide paid family leave to private employees. The legislation would establish that a private employer must provide paid family leave to an employee who is eligible to take unpaid leave pursuant to the Family & Medical Leave Act (FMLA) to care for persons covered by the federal law (note that recent amendments expanded this category). Any such employee would be entitled to a total of twelve weeks of paid family leave within an annual period.

By providing employees with some portion of their regular salaries in those times of personal emergencies, this bill would allow such individuals to attend to the health needs of their families and loved ones without the fear of financial hardship due to lost pay.

Please call the Office of Council Member James at (212) 788-7081 for more detailed information on the bill. We will be posting further on this legislation.

For more information on this issue in general, please see the Working Families page here.