County doubles its own workers’ paid parental leave to 12 weeks
Written by Richard Battin on November 12, 2024
Miami-Dade commissioners last week rushed aboard the parental leave bandwagon, an ordinance presented by Chairman Oliver G. Gilbert III to double to 12 weeks the paid parental leave county employees may take.
"I am actually shocked," said Commissioner Danielle Cohen Higgins, "that it was the policy of the county to only have six weeks. I am embarrassed by that, quite frankly."
Commissioners unanimously approved the ordinance, doubling parental leave that already was almost twice the national average, according to greatplacetowork.com
On average, the site reports, companies offer three to four weeks of paid maternity leave. The average paternity leave nationwide is about three weeks, the site says.
At the top of the parental leave spectrum, some companies offer up to four months of maternity leave and three months of paternity leave.
"I'm going to support this," said Commissioner Juan Carlos Bermudez, "but my question is, do we have any idea of what the fiscal impact would be?" The fiscal impact, Mr. Gilbert said, is zero, since the county always budgets for an employee's full annual salary. So, paying an employee who is staying home getting to know what Ms. Cohen Higgins called "their tiny, brand-new human," doesn't cost any more than if they were on the job.
Co-workers may have to scramble a little to take up the slack in the absence of a new parent, but, fiscally, Mr. Gilbert said, it's a wash. It's like paid sick leave or vacation time.
Mr. Gilbert compared it with an unmarried, childless staff member in the chambers: "Let's say Christina is married and has a child and ... she leaves for 12 weeks. She's just getting her salary... That's all ... That's all she getting ... There's no extra money." Tongue in cheek, he later congratulated Christina on both her new-found marriage and motherhood, to the delight of the chamber.
"When parents have had adequate time to bond with their newborns," Commissioner Marleine Bastien read from her cellphone, "it fosters secured attachment, cognitive development, social and emotional skills and reduces stress and anxiety." She was among many who wanted to be listed as co-sponsors of the measure.
The county's leave plan had been unchanged since its adoption in 2016. The chairman's ordinance is a baby step in what most consider the right direction. It continues to discriminate between parental leave and sick or vacation time, paid at 100%.
Prior to the new ordinance, the county's six-week parental leave plan offered 100% of an employee's salary for the first two weeks, 75% for the second two and 50% for the third. The new plan offers 100% for the first six weeks and 50% for the remaining six.
