The amount of time state employees can take for paid parental leave after the birth or adoption of a child would double from three to six weeks under legislation the Georgia House and Senate agreed to Tuesday.
Sen. Brian Strickland, who sponsored House Bill 1010 in the Senate, said the benefits should go further.
“Frankly, I don’t think this is enough,” he said. “I think we should do more.”
Strickland, a Republican from McDonough, said the bill is a step in the right direction to help young working families and make state jobs more competitive.
Workers may take up to 12 weeks off under the federal Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 without fear of losing their job, but that time is unpaid. The legislation passed Tuesday would increase the amount of paid time off state workers received.
The leave has to be taken within the first 12 months of giving birth or adopting a child.
Senators amended HB 1010 to add a requirement that state workers are to be notified about the benefit and clarified that school employees are included.
“With this bill, we will help increase the standard we set as a state for our employees that hopefully will encourage more private businesses to do something similar or even something better,” Strickland said.
House Speaker Jon Burns and Speaker Pro-Tempore Jan Janes made parental leave a priority this year. They applauded approval of the measure in the Senate.
“I’m proud of the final passage of HB 1010, increasing paid parental leave, which will empower our parents and support growing families across our great state,” Burns said.
The bill, approved 42-6 in the Senate and 149-17 in the House, is now pending Gov. Brian Kemp’s approval.
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