Paid parental leave for Tucson city employees set to expand to 12 weeks

Employees of the city currently get six weeks of paid leave. The City Council told Mike Rankin, the city attorney, last week to work on raising it to 12 weeks.

The amended time off could get in front of the council for a vote as soon as its next meeting on April 25, Rankin said.

Mayor Regina Romero and Council Member Lane Santa Cruz, who represents the west side, brought the matter to their colleagues for discussion at Tuesday’s study session.

“As a parent of four kids I know how critical it is to have this time, not only to bond with the baby but to heal and settle into this new normal for parents,” Santa Cruz said at the meeting.

The paid parental leave will be for both partners, Romero said.

Employees already have benefits for the adoption of infants, said city spokesman Andy Squire.

In 2017, the council passed an ordinance which currently allows for six weeks of paid parental leave for city employees.

Prior to that the city did not pay for parental leave, Romero said. When Tucson passed the original ordinance it was “leading” in the state because it was not offered by other municipalities in Arizona.

Tucson no longer is a leader on the issue, Romero said.

In December 2021, the Pima County Board of Supervisors voted 4-1 in favor of paying employees their full salaries when taking parental leave. Less than a month later, the board doubled benefits, giving county employees a full 12 weeks of paid parental leave.

Local employers, such as the University of Arizona, also provide 12 weeks of parental leave.

Beginning in October 2022, the city of Phoenix began providing its employees with up to 12 weeks of “paid leave for the birth, adoption or foster care placement of a child during a 12-month period.”

Less than a year later, a pilot program was established to provide up to 12 weeks of paid leave to state employees.