House expands paid parental leave for employees, Daniel Perez says

The House is expanding its paid parental leave policy when employees have a baby or adopt a child, House Speaker Daniel Perez announced.

The policy takes effect immediately and applies retroactively for parents who took leave from Nov. 19, 2024, onward.

Going forward, full-time salaried employees will get up to seven consecutive weeks of paid parental leave for maternity leave after childbirth.

The House will also offer mothers and fathers paid care and bonding leave for up to two weeks within one year after a child’s birth or adoption. The care and bonding leave “may be granted on an intermittent basis” and can’t be taken during the 60-day Legislative Session. It requires supervisor approval as well, Perez’s memo said.

It’s an expansion from the current policy, which Perez explained in the memo.

“As has been the policy of the House, an employee who is the father or mother of a natural born or adopted child will continue to be granted parental leave for a period not to exceed three months total,” Perez’s memo said.

“The employee may include in the request for parental leave one or all of the following types of leave: (new) paid parental leave when allowable; up to 240 hours of accrued sick leave; annual leave; compensatory leave; personal holiday; and leave without pay.”

To help retroactively, the House Office of Administration and Professional Development will be contacting employees to talk about their situations.

The majority of Americans don’t get paid time off for childbirth, according to a 2019 Kaiser Foundation study.

A few major employers in Florida are offering the benefit to new parents.

Publix, for instance, began offering full- and part-time employees paid parental leave in 2022.

“We frequently review our benefits to continually offer a comprehensive package to our associates,” Publix spokesperson Maria Brous told Florida Politics at the time the policy was unveiled.