Carrboro’s Board of Aldermen unanimously passed an ordinance to provide paid parental leave to town employees on Tuesday.
A maximum of 240 hours of paid parental leave will be provided to any employee who qualifies for the Family and Medical Leave Act, and coverage includes a child’s birth, adoption or foster care placement.
Alderman Sammy Slade says that he believes this ordinance will help the town stay competitive as an employer.
“One of the struggles we have as a town is to retain very good employees,” said Slade. “We lose them many times to larger institutions that tend to pay more, and it’s these kinds of benefits that could mitigate that a bit.”
Despite being a step forward, Slade claims that there is still more work to be done in the area.
“I do want to point out that compared to what European places are doing, we are still far from doing what would be ideal,” said Slade. “For the future, we can revisit this at a later time.”
The ordinance states that employees must give 60 days notice, if possible, and if both parents are employed by the town a total of six weeks will be given to both employees.
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