NYC Workers need Teleworking Now!

NYC City Workers Need Teleworking now. New York City workers have demonstrated efficiency, reliability and commitment during the pandemic. City workers adapted quickly and without guidance and continued to keep the city functioning. We are now faced with the Omicron variant and the stark reality that COVID-19 and its resultant illness will not be going away anytime soon. The City does not have the luxury of time. The New York City workforce is calling upon the State to quickly and efficiently establish a permanent, common-sense telework policy that prioritizes staff safety and reallocates resources to better support workers whose physical presence in the workplace is necessary. Technology, flexibility, and investment in staff are all integral parts of organizational success. Remote work can offer increased accessibility and opportunities for the most vulnerable including those with physical disabilities and mental health conditions, flexibility for families and caregivers, and retention and attraction of top talent. Agencies are faced with severe attrition and staffing crises, revealing a dissatisfied workforce dealing with or preparing for the critical loss of key staff across agencies and departments. These shortages threaten the provision of many necessary City services and can impact the quality of life of residents who depend on such services. Compounding that, it is expected that filling vacated positions under an obsolete workplace model will be increasingly difficult. The City workforce is made up of over 300,000 dedicated public servants serving New York’s most vulnerable communities. City workers are the backbone of this City and deserve safety, respect and equity in the workplace. Improved technology and the success of pandemic remote work policies leave no other choice: the City must seize the moment and immediately develop a long-term policy that better reflects a changing workforce and society, while bolstering its core principles of equity and growth. The time is now. We urge the New York State legislature to take swift action to pass S5536/A457, which will align the City workforce with that of other state and federal agencies and enable a safe, equitable and efficient future for the city.