Proposing Paid Personal Time for All New Yorkers Discussion

Use the case study of Proposing Paid Personal Time for All New Yorkers to learn about the five steps of Policy Development. In this discussion, we will be focusing on step 1 of the Policy Development: Identifying an issue. 

Upon completing readings for Paid Personal Time Part I, write a 300-400 paragraph answering the following questions: 

• In the U.S., New York State and/or New York City, who has access to paid vacation? Who doesn’t? (The type of employment, size of company, industry, full time vs. part-time, etc.)
• How are marginalized communities affected by the lack of paid vacation?
• What kind of effects does lack of paid time off have on workers? (Physical and mental health, economy, family relationship etc.) 
• What kind of benefits can employers gain from providing paid vacation time to their employees?

*Please note that Paid Personal Time (Paid Vacation Time) is different from Paid Sick Time or Paid Family Leave. 

**Your writing in this discussion post can be used and built upon for Memo 2

This week, we will learn the concept of five-step policy development. We will apply the five-step exercise to the case study of proposing paid personal time legislation in New York City. In this section, we will focus on the first two steps. First, we will identify the issue and examine what kinds of benefits and barriers there might be for providing paid personal time to employees. Second, we will learn how to research and gather information that would support this legislative idea. Research should include quantitative and qualitative analysis from various reports, news articles and existing legislation. 

Part I: How are policies developed and proposed 

• Watch: NYC First Lady Chirlane McCray, Paid Personal Time is a fundamental right (September 9, 2019) (Links to an external site.)
• Watch:PIX11 News, “Rally for NYC to be first US city to have paid time off mandate” (May 28, 2019) (Links to an external site.)
• Read: Center for Economic and Policy Research, No-Vacation Nation Revisited (May 2013) (Links to an external site.)
• Read: Community Service Society, New Yorkers need a vacation (Aug. 2019) (Links to an external site.)
• Read: University of California, Davis Center for Poverty Research, Material Hardship Shows a Clearer Picture of Mental Health among Low-wage Workers  (Links to an external site.)(Sep. 2015) (Links to an external site.)
• Read: Gallup, Depression Costs U.S. Workplaces $23 Billion in Absenteeism ( (Links to an external site.)July 2013) (Links to an external site.)