Commission staff present draft four-week parental leave policy for staff; attorneys reviewing

At the April 7 meeting staff presented a draft parental leave policy that would provide four weeks of paid parental leave for the birth, adoption, or foster care placement of a child aged 17 or younger. The presenter said the policy is intended to run concurrently with FMLA or the commission’s paid family leave program and applies to full-time employees with 12 months of service.

Key provisions staff outlined: four weeks must be used within 12 months of the birth or placement; leave would be compensated at a percentage of the employee’s straight-time pay (the draft specifies a percentage to be finalized); the leave coordinates with short-term disability (where applicable); the policy would not pay out unused leave at separation; and staff benefits such as retirement and health-care contributions would continue during leave, while accrual of vacation and sick time during leave remains subject to internal policy decisions and attorney guidance.

Staff said attorneys are reviewing the draft and that they will return to the commission with a final version for formal adoption in May or during the commission’s June policy session. The presenter noted the policy is intentionally modest and iterative: four weeks is shorter than many employer policies but was chosen to pilot a parental benefit without immediate large budget impacts.

The presenter also explained how the policy can be expressed in hours (the commission’s workweek is defined as 37.5 hours), so four weeks would equate to a specified number of work hours, and requested that the commission allow flexible use within the 12-month window.

Ending: Staff indicated the presenter’s expected personal timeline—the presenter’s partner’s due date is June 16—and said staff would finalize wording with MK and legal counsel before returning to members.