Acting Mayor Austin Quinn-Davidson signed a paid parental leave policy for Municipal employees, she said in a statement on Wednesday.
The Municipality of Anchorage will award non-cashable, paid parental leave to eligible municipal employees who have been approved to take qualified leave under the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993.
The Municipality will provide 160 hours of non-cashable leave to regular, full-time eligible executive and non-represented employees who have been approved for FMLA leave for a qualifying life event, such as the birth of a child or children, or placement of a child or children with the employee for adoption or foster care. That is about five weeks of paid leave.
“This policy has been long in the making, and is good for both families and the Municipality,” said the acting mayor, whose term of office ends upon the swearing in of Dave Bronson at 8 am on July 1. “Paid parental leave improves employee lives and morale while also saving our city money due to reduced employee turnover. It’s a real win-win – for employees and taxpayers alike.”
Critics say it is a bad-faith announcement in the final hours of what’s left of the old Ethan Berkowitz Administration; Berkowitz resigned in disgrace and Quinn-Davidson has been the unelected mayor for eight months, after the Assembly refused to hold a special election.
The acting mayor did not reveal the expected cost of the program.
