Fluffy feeling ill? NYC workers may get sick leave to care for pets

NEW YORK — New Yorkers might soon be able to use their paid sick leave to take their pets to the veterinarian or to be with them during surgery, if the City Council passes a bill that was introduced Wednesday.

The bill, by council member Shaun Abreu, a Manhattan Democrat, would amend the Earned Safe and Sick Time Act so that paid sick leave, which employees can take to care for themselves or family members, can also be used for household pets and service animals.

Abreu said the bill was intended to help address the city’s mental health crisis. “I think that one of the simplest ways to support mental health is by encouraging pet ownership,” Abreu said, adding, “Keeping our pets healthy keeps us healthy.”

He pointed to research that shows that owning a pet can reduce cortisol, a stress-related hormone. Having a dog, for example, can also compel people to engage in physical activity, which can in turn have positive effects on depression and social isolation, he said.

The legislation comes at a time when roughly two-thirds of American homes report having at least one pet, according to the American Pet Products Association, an industry group. Americans spent $147 billion on their pets in 2023, which includes the costs of veterinary care and over-the-counter medicine, according to the group.

Few places have laws like the one Abreu hopes to pass. In Emeryville, California, people can use their paid sick leave to care for a guide dog, signal dog or service dog that belongs to the employee or a family member.

And some employers, including a Minneapolis marketing company and a data company in New York, have voluntarily tweaked their policies to include paid leave for employees who have recently brought home new pets — a perk that grew in popularity amid a pandemic boom in animal adoptions.

But for most pet owners, their options depend on their employer’s sensibilities.

“If I were to say to my boss, ‘Hey, I need to take Tuesday off because I need to take Waffles to the vet,’ you don’t know what kind of reaction you’re going to get from the employer,” said Allie Taylor, the president of Voters for Animal Rights, a nonprofit organization that worked with Abreu’s office on the bill.

The city’s law currently guarantees workers at companies with 100 or more employees up to 56 hours of paid leave per year for their own illness or injury or that of a family member, while those who work at smaller businesses are entitled to up to 40 hours.

The amended law would cover employees’ service animals and animals kept legally for companionship (it does not include a list of species).

Kathryn Wylde, the president of the Partnership for New York City, an influential business group, expressed concern about the potential cost to employers of expanding the parameters of paid sick leave.

“These benefits cost money, and it’s one thing if the employee is sick and can’t come to work; it’s another thing if it’s a discretionary activity,” she said. “The concern is that ultimately it creates a pattern of raising the cost of living and doing business in New York because costs are passed along to consumers.”

Wylde said that “at some point we have to recognize the limitations of what government can or should mandate,” though she said she has many pets and is “a pet-friendly person.”

But Inimai Chettiar, the president of A Better Balance, an advocacy group that helped lead the campaign to pass New York City’s paid sick leave law, said her organization would be happy to see the city broaden the law, as it has in the past.

“From our perspective, both New York City and New York state have long been leaders on paid sick time,” she said, adding that the state would do well to also reform temporary disability insurance for workers who need time off for their own health conditions.

Taylor, who has five cats, said the bill could also be a small way to make it easier for people to keep their pets in their homes, which could help ease overcrowding in the city’s animal shelters.

The public shelters, which are run by the Animal Care Centers nonprofit system, have been overwhelmed in part because the skyrocketing cost of veterinary care has deterred some people from adopting pets. A shelter that opened in Queens in July was already at more than 210% capacity by August.

Abreu — who has two cats, Rocky and Nina — said he was hopeful that the bill would become law, saying that there were City Council members who both loved pets and were committed to addressing the city’s mental health crisis.