Lakewood City Council approved for city employees this week. And one Cleveland City Council member is hoping Cleveland is next.
The Lakewood ordinance provides 12 weeks of paid leave for the birthing parent. Non-birthing parents are eligible for two weeks of paid bonding leave.
The legislation was crafted using gender-neutral language to be more inclusive, said Lakewood Councilman Tristan Rader. Rather than using terms like 鈥渕other鈥� and 鈥渇ather,鈥� he said, the city opted to use 鈥渂irthing鈥� and 鈥渘on-birthing.鈥�
鈥淢embers of the LGBTQ community spoke up and we made that change,鈥� said Rader, who worked with now-Mayor Meghan George to craft a measure like this a few years ago, when George was an at-large council member. 鈥淚t鈥檚 very important to speak in terms of birthing parents.鈥�
The overall goal is to increase equity in the workplace, Rader said. City officials the policy will increase job retention, he said, particularly with women.
鈥淲e鈥檙e having some issues in some of our departments, finding qualified folks who want to work in this sector,鈥� Rader said. 鈥淲e鈥檙e hoping that this also leads to better retention of folks staying in the workforce.鈥�
Some members of Cleveland City Council are interested in putting a similar policy in place, said Ward 17 Councilman Charles Slife, who is asking Cleveland officials for data and details on what such an ordinance might need to consider, such as overall cost.
鈥淣ow I know there鈥檚 a cost to everything,鈥� Slife said. 鈥淏ut there鈥檚 also a cost to losing employees who are seeking employment elsewhere because they feel the benefits packages are more competitive.鈥�
An updated parental leave policy would help keep Cleveland鈥檚 municipal government competitive in its employment opportunities, Slife said. For families and new parents, he said, policies like parental leave and childcare are top priority.
鈥淚 think it鈥檚 important for us to succeed as a city that we鈥檙e retaining workers and attracting top talent, and paid parental leave, increasingly so, is a benefit that parents seek out,鈥� Slife said.
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