A Small Step with A Huge Impact: Parental Leave

Photo credit I cannot type the news fast enough!  I am smiling ear to ear! While this news is not as huge as Netflix announcing that its employees will receive an optional year of paid parental leave, this is a small step for our country that can possibly lead to huge changes!

San Francisco  just approved 6-weeks fully paid parental leave. 

That's right.  San Francisco is paving the way. It has just become the first city in our country to require ALL companies provide a FULLY-paid parental leave for parents.  The six weeks will allow both the mother and father to take the time off, which realistically means that parents have 12 weeks between the two of them. RECORD YOUR BABY'S HEARTBEAT IN AN ADORABLE STUFFED ANIMAL! Prior to this, San Francisco did require businesses provide partial-paid paternal leave time, but at only 55% of salary being paid out, it made it very hard for both members of the family to take the time and bond with their baby.  This 55% of normal wages was paid by a state insurance program that workers pay into. This new measure would require businesses to provide the other 45% of the cash so that residents can receive fully-paid leave. The new proposal was unanimously approved by the city’s Board of Supervisors, AP reported, though one more formal vote is required before the measure can be sent to Mayor Ed Lee, who is expected to sign it into law. Any new mother or father who works for at least eight hours a week in San Francisco will be eligible for the full 6 weeks off. “Our country’s parental leave policies are woefully behind the rest of the world, and today San Francisco has taken the lead in pushing for better family leave policies for our workers,” said Supervisor Scott Wiener, who supported the bill, according to USA Today. Starting in January 2017, companies with 50 or more employees will have to start offering fully-paid leave. Those with 35 to 49 workers have to start offering the leave by July 2017, and businesses with 20 to 34 employees must comply by January 2018. We love that dads were included in this!!