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Winnebago County board adopts 4-week paid maternity leave policy
Summary
The Winnebago County Board of Supervisors approved a county maternity leave policy that provides four weeks of paid leave concurrent with FMLA for employees who have worked at least one year and 1,250 hours; the policy was adopted as presented and excludes an immediate paternity benefit and union-covered employees until contract negotiations.
The Winnebago County Board of Supervisors voted to adopt a county maternity leave policy that provides four weeks of paid leave, the board decided during its regular meeting.
County Attorney Kelsey presented the policy and said it would provide four weeks of paid leave “in addition to any vacation or sick leave that you accrue” and would run concurrent with the federal Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA). The draft requires an employee to have worked for the county for one year and to have logged 1,250 hours to qualify.
The policy does not extend the total FMLA entitlement; instead, it makes four weeks of that leave paid, Kelsey said. She described the stated goals as reducing financial hardship for new parents and improving maternal and child health outcomes and bonding. “This policy has nothing to do with me,” Kelsey said, noting she holds an elected office and would not personally benefit under the terms as drafted.
Supporters during the meeting’s public comment period and several department heads said the benefit could help recruit and retain employees — particularly female jailers and public-health staff — in positions that are hard to fill. A county department head, Chris Barber of the conservation office, told supervisors the proposal “would have been incredibly beneficial” in a recent personnel case and said the added cost would not be burdensome for his department.
Board members discussed implementation details. The draft requires that the four weeks run concurrent with FMLA; it does not require employees to exhaust accrued vacation or sick leave first. Several speakers warned that forcing employees to deplete accrued leave first would defeat the policy’s purpose because new parents often need sick/vacation time after returning. Kelsey said the draft was reviewed by the county’s legal advisor to ensure FMLA compliance and that the 1,250-hour threshold was added to mirror FMLA eligibility.
Kelsey estimated a generous per-employee cost of roughly $6,000 for four weeks of paid leave (wages plus benefits) and said, based on her seven years of experience, the county has had about three births among county employees in that period. Using those assumptions she estimated the policy would cost the county roughly $5,000–$7,000 per year under typical conditions.
The board approved the policy as presented, with Derby moving the motion and Jen Swolt seconding. Supervisors voted in favor; the motion passed without amendment. In discussion before the vote supervisors indicated the initial rollout would apply to nonunion employees and noted union-covered positions would require contract negotiations.
The approved policy, as discussed, excludes a paid paternity leave component; supervisors and commenters said that could be considered later. The policy text also explicitly allows for future amendment.
The county will circulate the final policy language to departments and begin the internal process to implement it. Supervisors said they expect to confer with the county’s HR consultant and the union steward about next steps for union employees.
Ending: The board’s action makes Winnebago County among local governments in the region adopting a specific paid-maternity benefit; the county will monitor usage and consider future amendments to cover additional parental leave types or to negotiate inclusion of union employees.
