The Committee on Ordinances voted Sept. 29 to ask the city's legislative counsel to draft an ordinance establishing paid parental leave for city employees after a departmental presentation on usage and cost estimates.

Director Jose Gouveia presented utilization figures and cost estimates to the committee. Gouveia said current use of family medical leave for childbirth is moderate and that, based on the current pattern of births and parental leave, a program providing 12 weeks of paid leave could cost in the range of roughly $360,000 to $450,000 for the covered population (staff characterized this as an estimate tied to current utilization). He cautioned that broader policies covering all disability and critical-illness leave would raise the cost and that uptake could increase if a new paid benefit were adopted.

Legal constraints and bargaining units

City Solicitor David Garatowski told the committee that collective bargaining complicates implementing a city-wide benefit by ordinance. He advised that some employee categories are governed by collective-bargaining agreements and that an ordinance imposing benefits across bargaining units could be limited; drafting the ordinance will require precise language about which employees the ordinance will cover and how it intersects with existing contracts.

Committee motion and action

Councilor Shane Burgo and Councilor Brian Bergel (motion maker identified in the record as Councilor Bergel/Bergo) advanced a motion to have legislative counsel draft an ordinance that would grant city employees up to six weeks of paid parental leave at full pay and an additional six weeks at 75% pay, usable within the first year after a birth or adoption. The motion was seconded and the committee approved it by voice vote.

Councilors and staff noted the ordinance will need detailed provisions, including whether the benefit applies to adoptive parents, how the leave can be staggered (mother and father taking leave at different times), documentation requirements, and the interplay with temporary disability benefits. Solicitor Garatowski said those specifics will be included in the draft ordinance and that the legislative counsel will work with the chair and makers of the motion to produce text the committee can consider.

Next steps

Legislative counsel will prepare ordinance language consistent with committee instructions and submit it for committee and council consideration; Garatowski and staff will also advise whether the proposed coverage needs to be limited to non-bargained employees or how it may be coordinated with collective bargaining. Committee members said they wanted a draft returned in advance of the council's next agenda so that the council could refer the ordinance, re-advertise and hold formal hearings if the committee supports the draft.

Ending

The committee approved the drafting request and recorded the motion; committee members signaled support for a targeted parental-leave policy while acknowledging bargaining and budget questions remain for final adoption.