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Council counsel and labor attorney brief committee on handbook changes for paid leave
Summary
Resolution 25-205 would revise New Castle County Council's employee handbook (Sections 7.2 and 7.3) to align with the Healthy Delaware Families Act; counsel emphasized coordination with other leave sources and flexibility while state regulations are finalized.
The committee discussed Resolution 25-205, a proposal to amend the New Castle County Council employee handbook to clarify coordination of leave (Section 7.2) and to add a new Section 7.3 describing paid family and medical leave under the Healthy Delaware Families Act.
Mike Migliore, council counsel, summarized the state statute and said the program provides up to 12 weeks of paid leave for certain family and medical reasons and will begin operations as early as Jan. 1, 2026. "Employees are able to start receiving benefits just weeks away as of 01/01/2026," Migliore said.
Labor and employment attorney Lauren Russell of Potter, Anderson and Croon reviewed proposed handbook language and said the county's goals are clarity and flexibility while the statute and regulations are still being finalized. Russell said the proposed policy clarifies how multiple sources of leave will interact and that the county intends to allow leave in smaller increments than a full day to align with FMLA practice. "The statute permits us to require employees to take the leave in amounts of no less than 1 full day. My understanding is that the county is going to permit leave to be taken in smaller increments than 1 full day," Russell said.
Committee members asked technical questions about increments and cost-sharing; Russell and CFO Del Grama responded that implementation details remain subject to the statute and forthcoming regulations. No public testimony was exchanged on the resolution during the meeting.
