Jax Mayor pitches paid parental leave for City employees

Jacksonville, FL — Aiming to build a “family friendly city”, Jacksonville’s Mayor is proposing a new paid parental leave policy.

Mayor Lenny Curry is introducing a plan that would give COJ employees six weeks of paid parental leave following the birth or adoption of a child.  The plan will be introduced to union officials for collective bargaining after October 1st, and is then subject to approval by the City Council as part of the collective bargaining agreements.

"It relieves a great burden, you know, not having to worry about the financial stress when you’re paying attention to the most important thing in your life, and that’s a baby,” Curry says.

Jacksonville would be one of only a few City governments in the state to offer paid paternal leave. Curry says he and his wife were inspired by the national conversation on this issue and hopes the change would send a message to other cities and to private employers.

“I hope it certainly starts a conversation,” he says.

Current policy allows qualifying employees to take up to 12 weeks of leaving using available leave in conjunction with unpaid leave following a birth. This policy change would give COJ employees the opportunity to maintain some of their leave balance.

Curry says the change wouldn’t have any upfront cost for the tax payers, because employees would just continue to get their pay. WOKV asked whether Curry would seek any boost in staff in order to compensate for the loss of work hours employees would still be paid for, but he says they will look to existing staff instead.

“We’ve got a lot of employees- confident, capable employees. So we will ask people to step up, take on additional responsibilities, and that also gives them the opportunity to learn more and do more,” he says.

This does create the potential for more leave to be paid out at retirement. Curry says that will be discussed in collective bargaining.