Hochul Provides Fully Paid Parental Leave for 10,000 State Employees: Starting Today

By Yehudit Garmaise

Starting today, more than 10,000 state employees who must take leave to nurture and bond with their newborn babies and newly adopted and fostered children can receive their full paychecks for 12 weeks, Gov. Hochul announced on Tuesday.

"The dedicated New Yorkers who keep our state moving should not be forced to choose between paychecks and caring for their children,” said Gov. Hochul, who wants New York’s Fully Paid Parental Leave policy to serve as a model to all states to help working families.

“My administration is committed to giving our public servants the support they need because it's not only good for their families: it's good policy,” said the governor, who eventually wants to expand her policy to cover more than 170,000 unionized state employees.

The United States, Gov. Hochul said, is the only developed country in the world without a national paid parental leave policy: the positive benefits of which are well documented.

Not only does the health of mothers and infants improve when parents receive paid leave, paid leaves but provides New Yorkers with the economic security their growing families need.

In the long run, parents who received paid parental leave stay longer at their jobs, which benefits employers, the governor said. 

“Paid parental leave will make a significant difference to working families by helping parents care for their children without the fear of losing paychecks, said Michael Volforte, the director of NY’s Office of Employee Relations.

photo credit: Flickr