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HomeMy WebLinkAboutResolution 2021-171 N.C.S. 10/18/2021 DocuSign Envelope ID: B98E26OC-A8CB-4A61-BA99-7C425ABBOD9E Resolution No. 2021-171 N.C.S. of the City of Petaluma, California RESOLUTION APPROVING A PAID PARENTAL LEAVE POLICY FOR CITY OF PETALUMA EMPLOYEES WHEREAS, aligned with the City Council goal of"A City That Works For Everyone," which includes recruiting, hiring, retaining, and advancing a workforce that is diverse, representative, skilled, talented, and prepared to meet the demands of a full-service City, the City Manager and staff have engaged in discussions to improve and expand on family-friendly and work-life balance policies for City of Petaluma employees as well as innovative initiatives toward becoming a model employer; and, WHEREAS, short-term disability and/or paid parental leave benefits was a topic of interest with various bargaining units during recent negotiations; and, WHEREAS, the federal Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) and the California Family Rights Act (CFRA) provide eligible employees the opportunity to take unpaid, job-protected leave for certain specified reasons, including time for baby-bonding; and, WHEREAS, unless an employee has worked with the City sufficient number of years to accrue enough accrued paid leave, many employees out on such leave(s) tend to work part-time, only take a portion of the allowed FMLA/CFRA leave, and/or go into an unpaid status when taking time off to recover from birth and/or bond with their newborn; and, WHEREAS, the COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted various employment areas that warrant further review and action by employers and exacerbated challenges with recruiting and retaining top-talent; and, WHEREAS, many employers and public agencies have or are moving toward expanded family-friendly policies, including paid parental leave; and, WHEREAS, the City endeavors to provide its employees with access to benefits and programs that foster a healthy and engaged workforce, and which remain consistent with industry standards and are competitive with those benefits offered by other local agencies. Additionally, aligned with the City's efforts to employ innovative initiatives to maintain competitive and attractive benefits and strengthen our recruitment strategies, staff recommends that the City Council approve the Paid Parental Leave (PPL)policy attached as Exhibit A; and, WHEREAS, the PPL Policy will provide up to 320 hours of PPL up to 100% of the employee's salary and be effective retroactively to the beginning of fiscal year(FY) 2021/2022; and, WHEREAS, the PPL Policy is a new program and may require language cleanup and compliance updates and therefore, the approval of the policy will authorize the City Manager discretion to terminate or modify the policy at any time; and, WHEREAS, the proposed action is exempt from the requirements of the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) in accordance with CEQA Guidelines Section 15378, as the action does not meet CEQA's definition of a "project," because the action does not have the potential for resulting in either a direct physical change in the environment or a reasonably foreseeable indirect physical change in the environment, and because this is a personnel-related action that constitutes organizational or administrative activities of governments that will not result in direct or indirect physical changes in the environment. Resolution No. 2021-171 N.C.S. Page 1 DocuSign Envelope ID: B98E26OC-A8CB-4A61-BA99-7C425ABBOD9E NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the City Council of the City of Petaluma hereby: 1. Declares that the above recitals are true and accurate and are hereby incorporated as findings of this resolution. 2. Approves the Paid Parental Leave Policy for City of Petaluma employees as attached as Exhibit A. Under the power and authority conferred upon this Council by the Charter of said City. REFERENCE: I hereby certify the foregoing Resolution was introduced and adopted by the Approved as to Council of the City of Petaluma at a Regular meeting on the 18'day of October Docusignea�grril: 2021,by the following vote: �Q, City Attorney AYES: Mayor Barrett;Barnacle,Fischer;Healy,King,McDonnell,Pocekay NOES: None ABSENT: None ABSTAIN: None F�ni� DocuSigned by: DocuSigned by,ATTEST: �1KJ��6�i���f�'SNw N City Clerk Mayor Resolution No. 2021-171 N.C.S. Page 2 DocuSign Envelope ID: B98E260C-A8CB-4A61-BA99-7C425ABBOD9E EXHIBIT A L U1LI a CITY OF PETALUMA ADMINISTRATIVE POLICY Effective FY 2021/2022 I85Q' Paid Parental Leave Policy Eligibility: Effective July 1, 2021, any full time, regular or probationary employee who has been continuously employed by the City for at least 12 months prior to the start of the leave shall be eligible for Paid Parental Leave (PPL)to use within 12 months of the following eligible events: 1. Birth of a child and/or child bonding with a child of the employee, the employee's spouse, or the employee's domestic partner. 2. Placement of a child with the employee's family for adoption. 3. PPL does not apply to the adoption of a stepchild by a stepparent. For the purposes of PPL, the definition of"parent" and"child" are as defined by the California Family Rights Act. The City Manager has discretion to terminate or modify this policy at any time. Benefit and Use: l. Eligible employees shall be granted 320 (this is equivalent to 40— 8-hour workdays) PPL hours to use within 12 months of the qualifying event for the purposes of disability due to pregnancy and/or parental bonding. Regular part-time employees shall be eligible for a pro- rated number of PPL hours,based on scheduled hours of work. 2. PPL is based on a 12-month rolling calendar. No more than 320 PPL hours may be used in any 12-month period. PPL may not be used or extended beyond this 12-month time frame and any unused PPL will be forfeited at the end of the 12-month period for the qualifying event. 3. Upon termination of the employee's employment at the City, he or she will not be paid for any unused PPL for which he or she was eligible. 4. If a City holiday occurs while the employee is on PPL, such day will be charged as holiday pay and will not be counted against the employee's allotted PPL. 5. PPL is based on the employee's regularly scheduled hourly base wage. It is considered"paid status" for the purpose of merit, seniority,benefit premium contributions, vacation and sick leave accrual, and City benefit eligibility and contributions. 6. PPL counts towards retirement service credit. 7. PPL shall be used in a block of continuous time or on an intermittent or reduced schedule as approved by the eligible employee's supervisor. Intermittent leaves must be arranged and approved by the employee's supervisor in advance. 8. PPL shall run concurrently with PDL/FMLA/CFRA. Eligible employees will be reinstated to the same or equivalent position subject to permitted defenses under PDL/FMLA/CFRA. This may include altered assignments to accommodate the department's operational needs when the employee is working a reduced work schedule. 1 Paid Parental Leave Policy DocuSign Envelope ID: B98E26OC-A8CB-4A61-BA99-7C425ABBOD9E 9. An employee on Pregnancy Disability Leave (PDL): Once the eligible employee has reduced their sick leave balance to 40 hours or less, they are eligible to use PPL. An eligible employee is not required to further reduce their balance once they have reached the initial threshold of 40 hours or less. Coordination of Benefits & Leaves • PPL taken under this policy will run concurrently with leave under the FMLA, CFRA and PDL. • PPL can be fully integrated with any short-term disability or California Paid Family Leave program but shall not exceed one hundred percent (100%) of the employee's normal gross salary rate. • The use of Short-Term Disability (STD) and Paid Family Leave (PFL) will not reduce available hours under the PPL leave entitlement. • For time covered by FMLA/CFRA job protected leave for bonding purposes, PPL must be used prior to other accrued leave or unpaid leave except as discussed in paragraph 9 above. • If an employee has exhausted FMLA/CFRA entitlements for reasons other than bonding, PPL must be used prior to other accrued leaves or Leave Without Pay for arranged leaves for the purpose of bonding. Scheduling of non-FMLA/CFRA protected PPL is subject to department approval. • PPL cannot be used when an employee is on leave for reasons other than the following eligible events with the exception of paragraph 9 above: 1. Birth of a child and/or child bonding with a child of the employee, the employee's spouse, or the employee's domestic partner. 2. Placement of a child with the employee's family for adoption. If this policy conflicts with current statutory or case law, the law prevails. 2 Paid Parental Leave Policy DocuSign Envelope ID: B98E26OC-A8CB-4A61-BA99-7C425ABBOD9E L��? i- I85`� Paid Parental Leave (PPL) Request Form Employee to complete form and give to Human Resources in advance of leave. Employee Name Employee Number Child's Date of Birth: Date of adoption if applicable: Relationship: ❑Birth of a Child and/or Child Bonding ❑ Child Placed for Adoption Documentation of Relationship will need to be submitted to Human Resources to determine eligibility for PPL. Upon birth or placement of a child for adoption,employees may be eligible to receive up to 320 hours of PPL(pro- rated for less than full time employees) to use for the purposes of disability due to pregnancy and parental bonding, within 12 months of the birth or placement of the child. To the extent CFRA or FMLA protected bonding leave is available, it will run concurrently with PPL. PPL may be used as a consecutive block of time, or on an intermittent or reduced work schedule as approved by the employee's supervisor in advance. PPL is applied until the benefit is exhausted, and prior to other accrued leave or Leave Without Pay except as discussed in paragraph 9 in the Paid Parental Leave Policy.Please indicate below how you plan to use PPL leave and sign at bottom of form: ❑I plan to use PPL in one block of time. ❑Dates of Leave: From to ❑I plan to use PPL as part of an intermittent or reduced work schedule as agreed to by my department,as follows: An employee on Pregnancy Disability Leave(PDL): The employee on pregnancy disability leave may begin use of PPL during their period of disability following the birth of the child once the eligible employee has reduced their sick leave balance to 40 hours or less. An eligible employee is not required to further reduce their sick leave balance once they have reached the initial threshold of 40 hours or less. Employee Signature: Date: Supervisor Signature: Date: 3 Paid Parental Leave Policy