Mayor's Personnel Order No. 2021/2

November 8, 2021

To the Heads of All Affected City Departments and Agencies:

Subject: Citywide Policy for excused leave to accompany a child or children receiving A COVID-19 Vaccination.

Download Mayor's Personnel Order No. 2021/2

Pursuant to the powers vested in the Mayor by law, effective November 4, 2021, it is hereby ordered that all City employees shall be eligible to receive up to four (4) hours per child of excused leave for travel during scheduled work hours to accompany their child to receive the COVID-19 vaccine for each required administration of the vaccine.

1. Paid Leave to Accompany a Child or Children Receiving a COVID-19 Vaccination
   1. An employee may take up to four hours of excused leave per child for travel during scheduled work hours to accompany a child or children to receive a COVID-19 vaccine for each required administration of the vaccine.
2. Terms and conditions
   1. For the purposes of this order, child of an eligible employee means a biological, adopted, or foster child, stepchild, a legal ward or a child with respect to whom the employee stands in loco parentis, under the age of 18 years of age, or age 18 or older and incapable of self-care because of a mental or physical disability, and eligible to receive the COVID-19 vaccine.
   2. To the extent practicable, an employee should notify their supervisor at least three calendar days before their child’s or children’s scheduled administration of the vaccine and schedule the excused leave for a time that minimizes interference with agency operations.
   3. The employee must provide documentation of the child or children’s scheduled vaccination at the time they notify the supervisor of the need for excused leave and provide documentation of the receipt of each required vaccination, including the date and time of administration, signed by the provider or the provider’s agent.
   4. An employee with more than one eligible child should make best efforts to schedule the vaccination appointments for all eligible children at the same time.
   5. An employee is excused only for the time required for their child or children to receive the vaccine, including travel to and from the vaccination site, up to a maximum of four hours for each child per vaccine injection.
   6. Any additional time off must be charged to the employee’s leave balances.
   7. An agency head, in his or her sole discretion, may grant excused leave in excess of four hours to an employee in exceptional circumstances, such as widespread mass transit delays, unusually long travel distance between the worksite and the site of the vaccination, or unexpected delays at the vaccination site.
   8. An employee seeking excused leave that exceeds four hours per vaccine injection must provide a credible explanation and documentation of the reason that the absence from the worksite to accompany their child or children to receive a vaccination exceeded four hours per child.
   9. An employee who accompanies their child to receive the vaccination during nonworking hours shall not receive excused leave for such administration

All officers or employees of the City having any jurisdiction over the matters provided in this Order are hereby directed, pursuant to the powers vested in them, to take the steps necessary to effectuate the provisions of this Order.

Bill de Blasio
Mayor