Those becoming parents or guardians through birth, adoption or guardianship would receive 500 hours off at 100% of their base pay.
“I’m excited to present this new proposal coming out of Mother’s Day weekend. We want to set the standard in employee engagement by showing that we not only are listening, but taking significant steps forward by implementing what they are seeking,” said Bibb in a statement. “We hope other organizations in our region, both public and private sector, will follow our lead to support our workforce the best we can so that Cleveland can become an even better place to live, work, and raise a family.”
If the policy is passed, employees will be eligible for 20 of those hours before the arrival of the child, and the remaining 480 hours, or 12 weeks, will be available after. That leave would be available for employees to use intermittently to allow for flexibility depending on parents’ and guardians’ needs. Additionally, employees who experience miscarriages or stillbirths would be eligible for three weeks, or 60 hours, or paid leave.
It would at first be available to non-union workers, but the benefit would be added for union workers as contracts come up for collective bargaining.
“This isn’t that expensive. We’re estimating it’s about a $1.2 million impact on a $1.6 billion dollar budget and that’s not even accounting for the cost savings down the road of retaining workers,” said Ward 17 councilman Charles Slife, speaking in support of the policy at Monday’s council meeting. “We want our parents focused on childcare, not feeling pressured to come back into work and certainly we don’t want our workers exhausting their vacation and sick banks and forgoing medical care themselves to the point where we incentivize them leaving our workplace and compounding our difficulties in being fully-staffed.”
If Cleveland adopts the proposed plan, it will follow in the footsteps of cities like Cincinnati, which similarly expanded its parental leave policy in January. Proponents argue that investing in paid parental leave can save time and money by reducing employee turnover and increasing productivity. With 7,000 employees, the city is one of the largest employers in the region.
“This is not the end of all the work we need to do to support our workers, but I think by making a statement that we are going to offer our workers the same types of benefits you get for working in the federal government, other large cities, growing in the private sector, I think that that helps us attract the workers we need to get the job done for our residents,” said Slife.
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This article appears in May 3-17, 2023.