The motion was introduced back in January by councilmembers Nury Martinez and David Ryu.
Los Angeles is one of the hardest cities for working people to start a family. The current state law requires employers to provide their workers with 60 to 70 percent of their salary during the first 18 weeks of parenthood. Fortunately, new parents may be one step closer to fully paid parental leave.
In a unanimous vote made on Tuesday, the City Council moved ahead with a motion that would grant families welcoming home a new baby with 18 fully paid weeks of parental leave. If the vote makes it through the council’s vetting process, it would require employers to account for the difference between the money employees received through the state of California’s disability insurance/paid family leave programs to match the full amount of their salary. The city council will also work on a number of issues related to the policy, including directing the city attorney to draft a new ordinance and initiating staff to prepare for economic analysis.
“As the cost of living continues to rise while wages stay the same, America is becoming more and more hostile to working people hoping to start a family. This is especially true of expecting and nursing mothers,” Martinez said earlier this month when the committees moved the proposal forward. “It is time for us to recognize that working moms are some of the smartest, most devoted, and most productive workers America has to offer. Paid parental leave settles the score for working families and finally brings the Los Angeles economy in line with the rest of the developed world.”