City Rep. Ordaz pushes for shared parental leave program
EL PASO, Texas – City Council will begin writing up policy after voting unanimously to allow city employees to use collective paid time off for family leave.
This means city employees can donate their paid time-off to their collegues who may have used all of their hours, though they have already been able to do this with abscenses due to sickness or injury.
El Paso City Rep. Claudia Ordaz, who advocated that the city should be offering more financial help for employees after childbirth, pushed for a shared parental leave program.
The Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) provides certain employees with up to 12 weeks of unpaid, job-protected leave per year.
“FMLA, when it was passed, the intent was great. But that was when we were seeing in the U.S. just one breadwinner in the family. Now, you are seeing two. And so this isn’t just maternity leave. It’s a way to supplement what we currently have for both parents, moms and dads,” Ordaz said.
Ordaz wanted new mothers and fathers to be eligible to claim sick and vacation time donated by city employees to a pool.
“Unfortunately, the problem with that pool is that it can only be used for catastrophic events. A baby is not considered a catastrophic event,” Ordaz said.
Rep. Ordaz put the item on Tuesday’s City Council agenda. She said the city’s sick pool had been full for three consecutive years because employees who have had a baby cannot qualify to claim the paid time off.
“There have been numerous studies on how it increases employee retention, productivity, it increases employee morale. So it’s good for the workplace, but it’s also good for families. I mean, it’s crucial to have these types of benefits available. Especially when we are trying to retain talent, recruit talent. You are starting to see this trend where benefits like this is what the workforce is looking for,” Ordaz said.
Ordaz called this the first step. In a couple of weeks, she will be adding an another agenda item.
“The goal really is to encourage businesses and organizations across El Paso to look into these types of programs and how it will really help their bottom line. It’s good for business in the end,” Ordaz said.
Ordaz hopes to expand the program even further.
“We offer tax incentives to companies who want to do business here in El Paso. So I want to add this as a bonus incentive. If you offer parental leave to your employees, you are more likely to get a tax benefit from us, the city of El Paso,” Ordaz said.
