Chicago city employees to get 12 weeks paid parental leave starting next year

CHICAGO (CBS) -- City of Chicago employees will begin receiving up to 12 weeks of parental leave starting next year.

The new policy, which will go into effect Jan. 1, 2023, will cover roughly 32,000 city workers, regardless of whether they are the birth parent or non-birth parent; meaning it will apply to foster parents, adoptive parents, and surrogates, according to the mayor's office.

City employees will receive their full salary for the entirety of their parental leave.

To qualify, employees must be eligible for the Family Medical Leave Act, meaning they must have worked for the city for at least 12 months before taking leave, and have worked at least 1,250 hours during that 12-month period.

The city's current parental leave policy provides most employees 4-6 weeks of paid leave for birth parents, and only 2 weeks for non-birth parents.

"The pandemic taught us many important lessons, two of which are that families need help now more than ever, and unpaid care work is a detriment to our labor market," Mayor Lori Lightfoot said in a statement. "Ensuring parents have time to bond with their new child, heal from birth, and receive their wages will have long-lasting positive impacts on our employees and city. I call on my colleagues in the private sector to join me in offering this critical benefit, which undeniably builds equity within our workforce."