Marengo to add parental leave to employee policies

MARENGO — The City of Marengo is changing its maternity leave policy to a parental leave policy to include all parents, no those only who give birth.

City Administrator Karla Marck suggested during the council’s July 10 meeting that, as an equal opportunity employer, the council might want to change its policy to include men and adoptive parents to avoid the appearance of discrimination.

The council decided that it wanted to change the policy to parental leave, which gives men and women the same opportunities and restrictions after a child is born or adopted into a family, rather than maternity and paternity leave, which could distinguish between women and men, biological and adoptive parents.

During a lengthy discussion, the council realized that the city’s maternity policy didn’t match up with federal family and medical leave time off. Both of options offered during the July 24 meeting would “clean up” those discrepancies.

The council decided to pursue the first option, which offers the same parental leave to employees who have given birth, the spouses or committed partners of a woman who has given birth or parents who have adopted a child 17 years old of younger.

Employees may use up to 12 weeks accumulated sick leave and vacation to cover their absence. Leave beyond 12 weeks would require approval of the employee’s department head.

Employees would have up to 12 months after the birth or adoption to take up to 12 weeks off.

The second option would have allowed maternity leave to women who give birth and parental leave to new parents who did not give birth. Maternity leave would allow an employee has become pregnant to take up to eight weeks of accumulated sick leave and vacation after a child is born. A physician may authorize additional paid sick leave if health complications require it.

Parental leave, in option two, for parents other than those who give birth, would allow up to four weeks of accumulated sick leave and vacation. Leave beyond four weeks would require department head approval.

The policies don’t give employees any additional pay. “Nothing would be paid if they don’t have the sick days or vacation days,” said Marck.

“Why does the spouse need time off,” asked Councilman Travis Schlabach. “Am I an old fuddy duddy?”

The city isn’t giving the male employee anything he didn’t have before, said Schlabach. “Really it’s their sick time and vacation.”

But the city allows only three consecutive sick days without a doctor’s excuse, said Marck. The parental leave policy allows a total of eight weeks off.

“I think number one is the easiest and cleanest,” Schlabach said.

The second option would be more helpful for staffing, said Mayor Adam Rabe.

Marengo Police Chief Ben Gray said his biggest challenge would be staffing if two officers have children and take parental leave at the same time. But from an ease standpoint, option one is better.

“I think that’s going to be cleaners seven years from now,” Gray said. As infrequently as paternal leave will be used, ease of understanding is more important, he said.

The council agreed that leave time should be consecutive, not aggregate. Intermittent leave “would be a scheduling nightmare for me,” said Gray.

City Attorney Gage Kensler said he’d make that change when preparing a resolution for approval during the next meeting.