Legislative History and Memo - Miami-Dade County Paid Parental Leave Ordinance
Legislative History and Memo - Miami-Dade County Paid Parental Leave Ordinance
Miami-Dade
Legislative Item
File Number: 152699
Legislative History
Acting Body Date Agenda Action Sent To Due Date Returned Pass/Fail
Item
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12/1/22, 11:21 PM Legislative Matter
Operations
Cmte
REPORT: Assistant County Attorney Juliette Antoine read the foregoing proposed ordinance into the record.
Commissioners Heyman and Vice Chair Sosa requested to be listed as co-sponsors. Hearing no questions or
comments, the Committee proceeded to vote on the foregoing proposed ordinance, as presented.
Legislative Text
TITLE
BODY
WHEREAS, strong paid family and medical leave policies can help working families take time off for caregiving
responsibilities, as well as their own medical needs, without putting their economic security at risk; and
WHEREAS, unpaid leave under the federal Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) provides important job
protections, and is available to County employees, but many cannot afford to take it; and
WHEREAS, providing paid parental leave to County employees would allow them to continue to earn a portion
of their pay while they take time away from work to care for a newborn, newly-adopted child or newly-placed
foster child; and
WHEREAS, paid parental leave can increase female labor force participation by making it easier for women to
stay in the workforce after giving birth, which contributes to economic growth, and can encourage men to take
leave to serve as caregivers, which has a number of positive effects for families; and
WHEREAS, paid parental leave has been shown to improve the health and development outcomes of children,
including increased birthweight, decreased premature births and decreased infant mortality; and
WHEREAS, paid parental leave helps employers recruit talent, increase worker retention and reduce turnover,
saving employers significant costs associated with replacing employees, while also increasing employee
engagement, boosting employee morale, and ensuring a diverse and inclusive workforce; and
WHEREAS, the United States lags behind many other countries in providing government-supported time off for
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12/1/22, 11:21 PM Legislative Matter
new parents, and on January 15, 2015, the White House issued a presidential memorandum ensuring that federal
workers may receive up to six weeks of paid parental leave; and
WHEREAS, some municipalities throughout the United States have recently implemented paid parental leave
programs to bridge gaps where there has been no action on the state or federal levels; and
WHEREAS, the Board of County Commissioners is committed to improving workplace opportunities by
providing up to six weeks of paid parental leave for County and Public Health Trust employees,
NOW, THERFORE, BE IT ORDAINED BY THE BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS OF MIAMI-
DADE COUNTY, FLORIDA:
Section 1. Section Article X of Chapter 11A the Code of Miami-Dade County, Florida, is hereby created to read as
follows:
ARTICLE X. - PAID PARENTAL LEAVE FOR MIAMI-DADE COUNTY AND PUBLIC HEALTH TRUST
EMPLOYEES.
Sec. 11A-80.
(1) Miami-Dade County shall implement paid parental leave for all of its exempt female and male employees and
all other employees covered by collective bargaining agreements whose agreements explicitly provide for this
benefit for the employee, for the purpose of caring for his or her newborn, newly-adopted, or newly-placed foster
child or children. This leave shall apply equally to parents regardless of gender, as well as to same-sex couples, in
the event of a natural birth by any method, adoption, surrogacy, stillbirths, or foster care placement in the
employee’s home. Employees who have worked for Miami-Dade County or the Public Health Trust for a
minimum of one year are eligible for the full duration of paid parental leave.
(2) The paid parental leave shall be up to six weeks long, and may be taken by day or week anytime during the
first year after the birth, adoption, or foster care intake of the child or children. The leave period is fixed regardless
of the number of children born, adopted by the employee, or placed in the employee’s home through foster care.
During the leave period, the employee shall be paid 100 percent of his or her base wages for the first two weeks,
75 percent of his or her base wages for the following two weeks, and 50 percent of base wages for the remaining
two weeks. Employees shall be eligible to use any accrued leave in order to receive compensation up to 100
percent of base pay during the weeks reimbursed at the rates of 75 percent and 50 percent. This leave shall occur
concurrently with, count against, and not be added to periods of unpaid or job protected leave for which the
employee may also be eligible, including the federally-mandated 12 weeks of Family and Medical Leave Act
(FMLA) leave, and/or any other unpaid leave offered by the County due to childbirth or adoption, including under
Chapter 11A, Article V of this Code (Family Leave).
(3) The number of paid parental leave periods employees may take is unlimited over the duration of their
employment with the County, but employees are only eligible for one six-week paid leave per birth or adoption.
(4) If both parents work for the County, each is entitled to a six-week leave period as described in subsection (2)
of this Section, and they may take their parental leave period concurrently, subsequently, or in any other
combination they wish.
(5) The Directors of Human Resources for Miami-Dade County and the Public Health Trust shall have full
authority to issue policies relative to paid parental leave benefits offered pursuant to this Ordinance for any
purpose, including, but not limited to, notification requirements for employees requesting leave, employee
eligibility, and documentation requirements for births, adoptions and foster care placmeents.
(6) The Miami-Dade County employee leave manual and the Public Health Trust employee leave manual shall
include provisions consistent with the requirements of this Article for paid parental leave.
Section 2. If any section, subsection, sentence, clause or provision of this ordinance is held invalid, the remainder
of this ordinance shall not be affected by such invalidity.
Section 3. It is the intention of the Board of County Commissioners, and it is hereby ordained that the provisions
of this ordinance, including any sunset provision, shall become and be made a part of the Code of Miami-Dade
County, Florida. The sections of this ordinance may be renumbered or relettered to accomplish such intention, and
the word "ordinance" may be changed to "section," "article," or other appropriate word.
Section 4. This ordinance shall become effective 10 days after the date of enactment unless vetoed by the Mayor,
and if vetoed, shall become effective only upon an override by this Board.
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MEMORANDUM
Agenda Item No. 7(K)
The accompanying ordinance was prepared and placed on the agenda at the request of Prime
Sponsor Commissioner Juan C. Zapata and Co-Sponsors Commissioner Daniella Levine Cava,
Commissioner Sally A. Heyman, Commissioner Barbara J. Jordan and Chairman Jean Monestime.
Abigail·
County Attorney
APW/cp
I
MIAMI·•
Memorand um~
Date: February 2, 2016
Subject:
Mayor
-
Ordinance Creating Article X of
Parental Leave
hapter 11A of the Code Establishing Paid
The proposed ordinance creates Article X of Chapter 11A of the County Code establishing paid
parental leave for all County and Public Health Trust (PHT) employees for the purpose of caring
for a newborn, newly-adopted child, or newly-placed foster child or children. Up to six weeks of
leave would be provided, taken at any time during the first year after the event, with a portion of
the annual salary compensated and the employee having the option to use accrued leave to
ensure compensation of 100 percent of base pay for the entire period.
It is difficult to determine if the implementation of this policy will lead to a marked change in
behavior. Many employees currently take leave following a birth, adoption, or foster placement.
This leave is part of the historical leave usage that is taken into account as part of the annual
budget development process. All County and PHT employees are budgeted for 2,080 hours for
employees with a 40 work week and 2,496 hours for employees with a 48 hour work week. In
other words, whether the employee works or utilizes accrued leave, the funding to pay that
employee's salary is included in the budget. In addition, there are certain County operations,
such as Transit, Police, Fire, and PHT services, that must budget a relief factor (additional
positions which vary by service) to take into account both anticipated and unanticipated leave
usage that occur during the year to ensure County services are not interrupted. In some
instances, unanticipated leave may require backfill with overtime if the relief factor is not
sufficient and work cannot be distributed among existing staff.
Without knowing if a significant number of people who do not currently take leave for such
events would now be utilizing this policy, the only element that we can be sure of is that
employees who take advantage of the new policy would have more accrued leave available in
the future (having not had to charge it for this period) and could potentially have higher
separation payments in the future. We cannot say for sure whether costs will increase in the
fiscal period following implementation or even in the near future. Therefore, while allowing
employees to benefit from paid parental leave may have_a fiscal impact to the County and PHT,
it is difficult to determine such impact at this time.
~ ~
Edward Mar~
Deputy May~
Fls01316
MIAMI-~
Memorandum ~iiil'
Date: February 2, 2016
The proposed Ordinance creates Article X of Chapter 11A of the County Code establishing paid parental
leave for Miami-Dade County and Public Health Trust employees for the purpose of caring for his or her
newborn, newly-adopted, or newly-placed foster child or children.
Establishing paid parental leave for County and PHT employees will specifically benefit eligible employees by
providing them with up to six (6) weeks of paid leave at 100 percent of base wages for the first two (2) weeks,
75 percent of base wages for the following two (2) weeks, and 50 percent of base wages for the remaining
two weeks.
The benefits of paid parental leave extend beyond positive financial outcomes for County and PHT employees
and include broader, non-monetary benefits to the entire community. Paid parental leave can increase female
labor force participation, making it easier for women to stay in the workforce after giving birth, which
contributes to economic growth, and can encourage men to take leave to serve as caregivers, which has a
number of positive effects for families. Providing paid parental leave can also improve the health and well-
being of both the parent and the child, which provides significant public health benefits.
0~
Edward Marquez
Deputy Mayor
MEMORANDUM
(Revised)
Budget required
No committee review
ORDINANCE NO.
WHEREAS, strong paid family and medical leave policies can help working families
take time off for caregiving responsibilities, as well as their own medical needs, without putting
WHEREAS, unpaid leave under the federal Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA)
provides important job protections, and is available to County employees, but many cannot
WHEREAS, providing paid parental leave to County employees would allow them to
continue to earn a portion of their pay while they talce time away from work to care for a
WHEREAS, paid parental leave can increase female labor force participation by making
it easier for women to stay in the workforce after giving birth, which contributes to economic
growth, and can encourage men to talce leave to serve as caregivers, which has a number of
WHEREAS, paid parental leave has been shown to improve the health and development
outcomes of children, including increased birthweight, decreased premature births and decreased
WHEREAS, paid parental leave helps employers recruit talent, increase worker retention
and reduce turnover, saving employers significant costs associated with replacing employees,
while also increasing employee engagement, boosting employee morale, and ensuring a diverse
WHEREAS, the United States lags behind many other countries in providing
government-supported time off for new parents, and on January 15, 2015, the White House
issued a presidential memorandum ensuring that federal workers may receive up to six weeks of
implemented paid parental leave programs to bridge gaps where there has been no action on the
opportunities by providing up to six weeks of paid parental leave for County and Public Health
Trust employees,
Sec. l lA-80.
(1) Miami-Dade County shall implement paid parental leave for all
of its exempt female and male employees and all other
employees covered by collective bargaining agreements whose
agreements explicitly provide for this benefit for the employee,
AgendaltemNo. 7(K)
Page 3
is held invalid, the remainder of this ordinance shall not be affected by such invalidity.
ordained that the provisions of this ordinance, including any sunset provision, shall become and
be made a part of the Code of Miami-Dade County, Florida. The sections of this ordinance may
be renumbered or relettered to accomplish such intention, and the word "ordinance" may be
Section 4. This ordinance shall become effective 10 days after the date of enactment
unless vetoed by the Mayor, and if vetoed, shall become effective only upon an override by this
Board.
Prepared by:
Marlon D. Moffett