Yonkers Insider: YONKERS CITY COUNCILMEMBER PINEDA-ISAAC CALLS ON MAYOR SPANO TO APPROVE PAID FAMILY LEAVE EXPANSION.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: March 21, 2023.

 

YONKERS CITY COUNCILMEMBER PINEDA-ISAAC CALLS ON MAYOR SPANO TO APPROVE PAID FAMILY LEAVE EXPANSION.

 

Introduces Resolution to Increase Access and Coverage of Paid Family Leave Benefits for City Employees.

 

Yonkers, NY (March 21, 2023) – Yonkers City Councilmember Corazon Pineda-Isaac

(D-2) today announced the introduction of a resolution which aims to expand paid family

leave benefits for City employees. Currently, the City of Yonkers offers a limited number

of paid days off for City employees not represented by a union, and the Federal Family

Medical Leave Act (FMLA) only provides for unpaid leave. The Councilmember’s

Resolution is aimed at extending the duration of fully paid leave as well as expanding

eligibility to more City employees.

 

“Like many working people, our city’s employees feel the stress of trying to meet their

work and family responsibilities, and face financial hardships when their only option is to

take unpaid family leave,” said Councilmember Pineda-Isaac. “The City of Yonkers has

made few accommodations for the impact this has on families and it’s long overdue for

the Mayor to act. Yonkers is behind the times and we need to catch up.”

 

Earlier this year, Governor Kathy Hochul launched an initiative to offer fully paid

parental leave benefits to New York State employees that would result in 10,000

unrepresented State employees becoming eligible to receive 12 weeks of fully paid leave

to use for bonding with a newborn, fostered, or adopted child. The City of Yonkers has

not followed suit, leaving its non-unionized employees without the same parental leave

benefits that will now be offered at the State level.

 

“Life’s conflicting demands are even more acute at the birth or adoption of a child, or

when a child, spouse, or domestic partner or parent has a serious illness,” said

Councilmember Pineda-Isaac. “Women frequently are the primary caretakers within their

immediate and extended families in addition to their participation in the paid labor force.

Those who keep our city running each day should not be put in a position where they

have to choose between a paycheck and caring for their family.”

 

“Paid parental leave is long overdue for employees of the City of Yonkers. Allowing paid

time off to care for a newborn or a loved one is a fundamental best practice for employers

in this day and age. I commend Councilmember Pineda-Isaac for championing this cause

and bringing employment practices in the City of Yonkers into the 21st century”, said

Eileen O’Connor, cofounder of NYCD16-Indivisible.

 

The City will investigate the costs and benefits associated with the implementation of

such a policy, which may prove modest if funded through insurance as outline in the

FMLA. Many employers already offer up to 12 weeks of paid family leave as a standard

benefit to their employees. The City of Yonkers now has the opportunity to catch up with

the times and reverse its backwards approach to paid family leave benefits for its

employees. The City Council’s Resolution calls upon Mayor Spano and his

Administration to review and consider increasing and expanding paid family leave for

employees of the City, so that they can finally be afforded the same basic paid leave

benefits provided by many other employers.