Gothamist
A non-profit newsroom, powered by WNYC.
Gothamist
Listen Live
News
NYC home health aides press Mamdani to back bill ending 24-hour shifts
By
Caroline Lewis
Published Mar 25, 2026
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
Never miss a story
Email address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .
FG Trade Latin/Getty Images
By
Caroline Lewis
Published Mar 25, 2026
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
We rely on your support to make local news available to all
Make your contribution now and help Gothamist thrive in 2026. Donate today
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Home health aides who care for elderly and disabled New Yorkers are gaining some key support in City Hall in their fight for legislation banning 24-hour shifts — and they’re putting pressure on Mayor Zohran Mamdani to embrace their cause.
Current and retired home care workers have held multiple demonstrations outside City Hall over the past week calling for the passage of the “No More 24 Act,” which would cap home care shifts at a maximum of 12 hours, with limited exceptions. Workers have been fighting for the change for years, in part because they are typically compensated for just 13 hours of each 24-hour shift.
The bill has 17 sponsors in the Council so far and Speaker Julie Menin’s office said she plans to bring the bill to a full Council vote next month. Statewide, more than 18,000 residents received 24-hour home care as of 2022, according to 1199SEIU, the union representing home care workers. Of those, about 13,000 resided in New York City, according to the union.
When Menin recently delivered her news directly to home health aides gathered outside City Hall, they began jumping up and down and chanting her name. Former Speaker Adrienne Adams declined to bring previous versions of the bill, which was first introduced in 2022, to a full Council vote.
Because 24-hour home care is largely funded and regulated by the state, 1199SEIU and some other stakeholders have been adamant that local lawmakers coordinate with the state on any reforms in order to avoid disrupting patient care. Consumers rely on aides to complete daily tasks such as bathing and eating.
Mamdani, who is being targeted by workers in demonstrations and on social media, previously spoke out in favor of ending 24-hour shifts as a state assemblymember and supported a similar bill at the state level. But he has not committed to signing the pending “No More 24 Act” since taking office in City Hall.
“The mayor is committed to working alongside home care workers, the Council and state government to pass stronger protections that improve working conditions for caregivers and ensure they can provide the high-quality care their patients deserve,” said Dora Pekec, a spokesperson for Mamdani.
Many of the workers leading the fight for change are older women from China and Latin America, who have been speaking out against 24-hour shifts for years. They say the shifts take a major toll on their health and they are often not compensated for all the hours they work.
“My own body is falling apart and I care about the health of my other sisters, so I want to end this violence now,” Yun Fang Zhang, a 70-year-old retired home care worker, told Gothamist in Chinese through a translator.
Zhang said she worked 24-hour shifts multiple days a week for 12 years, caring for an older woman she frequently had to attend to overnight.
“Even though I don't work anymore now, I can only get three to four hours of sleep every night,” Zhang said.
State law allow for a home care worker to be paid for just 13 hours of a 24-hour shift, under the assumption the worker is receiving three hours for meals and eight hours of rest. But aides have repeatedly stated in lawsuits against their employers and complaints to the state Department of Labor that they routinely have to work through rest periods without getting extra pay.
Most 24-hour home care is funded through Medicaid. Splitting each 24-hour shift into two 12-hour shifts would cost Medicaid an additional $460 million a year, divided between the state and federal governments, 1199SEIU has estimated.
Councilmember Christopher Marte, who introduced the “No More 24 Act,” said many home care staffing agencies have already started splitting up 24-hour shifts in recent years without a problem.
He said he has amended his bill in an effort to assuage the concerns of critics like 1199SEIU. The current version of the bill would not take effect until April 2027, which Marte said would allow time for state lawmakers to make any necessary budget or legislative adjustments next year.
“It’s crazy that in 2026 we still allow this to happen and I think the city has led on a lot of workers rights issues,” Marte said.
In recent years, the state labor and health departments have successfully fought home health aides’ efforts to use the courts to change state law around pay for 24-hour shifts. A state judge recently ordered the Department of Labor to resume investigating hundreds of wage-theft complaints by 24-hour home care aides that the agency had dropped.
The state Department of Health said it does not comment on proposed legislation.
Tagged
Health and Science
Politics
home health care
new york city
public health
Caroline Lewis
Caroline Lewis is on the health care beat for WNYC and Gothamist. She has covered COVID, a nurses' strike, the overdose crisis and New York’s marijuana legalization effort, and spent a year investigating patients' medical bills. She always wants to hear about how everyday New Yorkers experience the health system. Got a tip? Email [email protected].
Read more
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
MORE news
Dump truck driver hits and kills cyclist on 34th Street in Midtown, NYPD says
It's the latest in a string of hit-and-run deaths in the city in recent months.
By
Liam Quigley
Published Sep 28, 2026 at 4:15 p.m. ET
New ingredient mandated for Latin American kitchen, restaurant plates in NJ
The Garden State now requires that corn masa dough and flour made and sold in the state be fortified with folic acid.
By
Arya Sundaram
News
New ingredient mandated for Latin American kitchen, restaurant plates in NJ
The Garden State now requires that corn masa dough and flour made and sold in the state be fortified with folic acid.
By
Arya Sundaram
A Brooklyn jail cell filled with smoke. The emergency button failed, a lawyer said.
By
Samantha Max
Crews launch tunnel machines to dig first new Hudson River rail tunnels since 1910
By
Michael Sol Warren
NYC nor’easter dries up after weather service reports minor flooding
By
Ramsey Khalifeh
Never miss a story
Catch up on the most important headlines with a roundup of essential NYC stories, delivered to your inbox daily.
Sign upEmail address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .