NYC to extend program for some employees to work remotely 2 days a week

A pilot program allowing eligible New York City municipal employees to work remotely two days per week will be extended for at least one year, through May 31, 2026, the mayor’s office announced Tuesday.

Officials said the extension, announced by Mayor Eric Adams and District Council 37 executive director Henry Garrido, provides "greater flexibility" for city workers and ensures the administration "continues to achieve its mission of making New York City the best place to raise a family."

District Council 37 is the largest public employee union in New York City, with about 150,000 active members and almost 90,000 retirees.

Officials said many of the members, representing more than 1,000 job titles including health care workers, social service employees, accountants, statisticians, actuaries, assessors, appraisers, EMS personnel, NYPD technicians, construction laborers, parks workers and others, are subject to residency requirements and live in the five boroughs.

The union is part of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, which has more than 1.6 million members nationwide.

The flexible work schedule was instituted in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic and went into effect on June 1, 2023.

Part of that agreement included the establishment of a Work Flexibility Committee to assess flexible workweek hours and "other measures" that could help "enhance employee morale, recruitment, and retention," according to a statement from the mayor’s office.

Last year, the parties agreed to a compressed work pilot program for employees "not able to work remotely" — but who can work a compressed schedule "without affecting city services."

"Our members have continued carrying out their service to the public with efficiency while benefiting from the flexibility of hybrid and compressed work," Garrido said in a statement Tuesday, adding: "It’s clear that alternative work schedules help with issues of retention and recruitment and allow the City of New York to be a workplace of choice."

New York City officials had ordered all city employees to return to the office five days per week in September 2021. The city listed a total workforce of 284,330 employees in January 2024, according to State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli's office.

The comptroller's office tracks attrition of New York City workers, which has "declined sharply" since 2021 when the number of employees quitting peaked amid the pandemic. The comptroller's office noted many employees left for private firms with higher salaries and more flexible schedules. The city also lifted pandemic hiring freezes, according to the comptroller. 

The comptroller's office noted nearly 49,000 employees left the city in 2022. The city cited a turnaround last year, with full-time staffing increasing for the first time since 2020, officials said.

Comptroller officials said Tuesday an average of 2,873 employees left the city per month during the first six months of the city's fiscal year from June through December 2024. That marked a decline compared with 3,181 employees who left during the same period a year earlier, officials said. Attrition slowed during the first seven months of fiscal 2024, totaling 21,500 departing employees.

With John Asbury

By John Valenti

john.valenti@newsday.com

John Valenti, a reporter at Newsday since 1981, has been honored nationally by the Associated Press and Society of the Silurians for investigative, enterprise and breaking news reporting, as well as column writing, and is the author of “Swee'pea,” a book about former New York playground basketball star Lloyd Daniels. Valenti is featured in the Emmy Award-winning ESPN 30-for-30 film “Big Shot.”