Lincoln City Council members voted Monday to make the city the first one in the state to offer paid parental leave to its employees.
The new policy approved Monday provides employees six weeks of paid leave for the birth, adoption or fostering of a child.
Paid leave will be available to full-time birthing and non-birthing parents from the time they start working for the city, and on a pro-rated basis to part-time employees who work at least 20 hours a week. The leave can be used over a period of 12 months.
Stacie Bleicher, a retired pediatrician who practiced in Lincoln for 35 years, told the council during a public hearing last week she’s thrilled to see Lincoln be a standard for other employers in the community and around the state to support families.
As a pediatrician, she said she’s seen the family unit fall apart, and had moms going back to work before they were physically or emotionally ready.
People are also reading…
“We know the start these kids and these families get from the beginning has a huge impact on the resiliency of the child, and how they’re going to function as community members,†she said.
“Long term, if we as a community can be more and more supportive of families we’re going to have more successful young adults ahead of us.â€
According to MomsRising, a national advocacy group, only 17% of Americans have access to paid family leave through their employer, said Kathie Uhrmacher, chairwoman of Commission on Women and Gender, which advises the mayor and City Council .
In addition to benefits such as improving employees’ economic security, and the city’s employee retention and recruitment, it improves productivity, gives children a health start and lowers the wage gap between men and women, and has even been shown to reduce infant mortality as much as 20%, Uhrmacher said.
“If the goal is to support women and keep young people in this community this is a step in the right direction,†she said.
Journal Star reporter Matt Olberding contributed to this story.