Mayor Invoice de Blasio of New York Metropolis has directed the entire metropolis workers who’re presently working from residence to return to the workplace full-time beginning in lower than two weeks, a sign that he’s intent on resurrecting the town’s office-dependent central enterprise district regardless of the Delta variant of the coronavirus.
In a Wednesday e-mail to company heads acquired by The New York Instances, the mayor’s reopening activity pressure mentioned the roughly 80,000 workplace staff employed at metropolis businesses would “resume pre-March 2020 work schedules within the workplace starting September 13.” There are greater than 300,000 metropolis staff total, however lots of them are important workers who’ve already been reporting to job websites.
The transfer represents an escalation of the town’s necessities for its workforce, and is sure to discomfit workers who’re involved in regards to the unfold of the extremely contagious Delta variant, or who’ve grown accustomed to the conveniences afforded by working from residence.
Mr. de Blasio has sought to push ahead New York Metropolis’s reopening, regardless of the arrival of the variant. In August, he mounted a significant live performance in Central Park designed to indicate the town’s reopening. Unhealthy climate pressured the live performance to finish early.
Mr. de Blasio first required metropolis staff to return to the workplace in individual beginning Might 3, however he instituted 50 p.c occupancy limits on buildings, which necessitated a hybrid schedule — on some days, workers labored from residence, and on others, they reported to the workplace.
The Wednesday e-mail famous that “telework will solely be allowed in restricted circumstances.” It additionally mentioned workers can be topic to an government order, signed by the mayor on Tuesday after he introduced the plan in July, that requires all workers to be vaccinated in opposition to the coronavirus or bear weekly testing.
All workers and contractors can be required to put on face coverings in all communal areas.
“As the town finishes its return to workplace course of, the mayor’s message stays the identical: We all know how one can make workplaces protected, and public servants can ship extra for New Yorkers once they’re working collectively,” mentioned Mitch Schwartz, a spokesman for the mayor. “Metropolis staff can have all of the assets they should full this last step safely. There’s no time to waste in constructing a restoration for all of us.”
