Proposed Ordinance Would Give Boston City Employees Full Pay for All 12 Weeks of Parental Leave
City workers now receive 100% of base pay for four weeks, then 75% and 50%. Use of the benefit rose from 181 employees in 2021 to 313 in 2025.
A proposed ordinance before the Boston City Council would pay city employees 100% of their base wages for the full 12 weeks of paid parental leave, according to the filing by Councilor Gabriela Coletta Zapata.
Under the current city code, employees receive full base pay for the first four weeks, 75% for the next four and 50% for the final four. Employees may use accrued leave, such as sick time, to make up the difference.
The ordinance says use of the benefit grew from 181 employees in 2021 to 313 in 2025. It argues that requiring workers to spend separately earned sick leave to reach full pay penalizes them for using the benefit. The policy covers birth, adoption, surrogacy and loss of pregnancy.
The Committee on Government Operations, which Coletta Zapata chairs, will hold a hearing on the measure, Docket #1599, on Tuesday, Oct. 27, at 2 p.m. at City Hall. The ordinance would take effect immediately upon passage. No cost estimate is included in the filing.
How we reported this
Built from the text of Docket #1599, the current Boston City Code Section 5-5.20 included in the filing, and the council's hearing notice. Apart from a Caught in Dot item, no coverage was found in the Boston Globe, Boston Herald, WBUR or Universal Hub as of Oct. 20.
