San Francisco Chronicle: Historic SF parental leave law kicks in
By Emily Green
Most new parents with jobs in San Francisco will be eligible for six weeks of fully paid leave starting this week, the result of the most comprehensive parental leave law offered anywhere in the country.
The law, unanimously approved by the Board of Supervisors in April, seeks to encourage bonding between parents and their new children, and applies to mothers and fathers who have a baby together by birth, adopt or become foster parents. It also extends to same-sex couples.
California's family leave law provides workers with 55 percent of their wages for up to six weeks. That’s far more than most states offer.
The San Francisco law, which took effect Sunday, further expands paid parental leave by requiring employers to pay the balance, or 45 percent, of the worker’s salary. Parents would see their wages rise from an average of $743 a week to $1,351, according to the city controller in a report analyzing the law’s economic impact.
The law, introduced by former Supervisor Scott Wiener before his election to the state Senate in November, applies to San Francisco businesses and nonprofits with 50 or more workers. It expands on July 1 to employers with 35 or more workers, and on Jan. 1, 2018, to those with 20 or more workers.
New parents can benefit as long as they work in San Francisco, regardless of whether they live in the city.
“Too many middle- and lower-income parents forgo parental leave simply because they can't afford it,” Wiener said Friday. “This law will eliminate the terrible choice many families face between bonding with a new child and paying the bills.”
Roughly 5,000 parents every year are expected to benefit from the law, an estimate based on the number of San Francisco residents who filed baby bonding claims with the state in 2014, the most recent year included in the city controller’s report.
However, Wiener said that estimate may be low. The number of residents receiving paid parental leave in the state has steadily risen over the years, and San Francisco’s law may encourage yet more parents to take time off.
The inspiration for the law came from Wiener’s longtime staffer, Andres Power, who became a father for the first time last year.
Power said one of the first things he did to prepare for his daughter’s birth was look into his parental leave benefits and was shocked to discover what little pay most parents received, even under the state law. He suggested the idea of extending parental leave to Wiener, who turned it into legislation that generated international media coverage.
“It's truly an honor that my own experience will now allow so many more families to spend essential time bonding with their new child,” Power said. “I hope this ordinance is only the beginning of a nationwide trend.”
Read the full article on the San Francisco Chronicle website here