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Maricopa County employees say paid leave, donated sick time and on-site childcare eased family burden
Summary
A Maricopa County employee described colleagues donating 12 weeks of sick leave when she was treated for cancer, and the McMahon family said the county's new on-site childcare will cut their current childcare costs and help with schedules.
Kim McMahon, a Maricopa County human services employee, said colleagues donated 12 weeks of sick leave after she was diagnosed with cancer in 2019 and that the support helped her through treatment and recovery.
Her husband, Alex McMahon, who said he has worked for the county's Flood Control department for eight years, described the county workplace as one with strong camaraderie and benefits that helped the family balance work and child care. "I worked for flood control for 8 years. This will be my eighth monsoon," he said.
The family plans to enroll their youngest son, Josh, at Maricopa County Kids Club, the county's new on-site childcare center. A narrator in the recording said the center will cost the family about half of what they pay now; the recording did not specify the center's fee schedule or eligibility rules.
The McMahons praised paid parental leave offered by the county. "Paternal leave where we got paid time off for parents was just absolutely an investment in us as a workforce," one of the McMahons said in the recording.
According to the recording, Kim McMahon credited the county's health-benefits and co-worker donations for helping during her health scare; she said, "I was diagnosed with cancer in 2019." The recording states that co-workers donated a total of 12 weeks of sick leave to her, and that she is now in remission.
The recording framed these benefits as helping Maricopa County retain employees and support working families but did not provide details on program eligibility, the county's childcare fees, or whether donated sick leave is a formal policy or an ad hoc arrangement among employees. The recording also did not state whether the county will expand similar benefits to other worksites or workers.
Maricopa County and the Maricopa County Kids Club were the only agencies named; the recording did not cite specific county policies, ordinances, or statutes governing paid parental leave, donated sick time, or on-site childcare.
