Contact: Brian Rothgery
414-278-4230 or brian.rothgery@
Progressive Plan Aimed at Achieving Equity and Improving Employee Recruitment
MILWAUKEE – A County Board committee has unanimously approved a proposal from Chairman Theodore Lipscomb, Sr., and Supervisor Marina Dimitrijevic to develop policy options for modernizing the County’s parental and medical leave rules, including a modern, gender-blind parental leave benefit that supports parents and families.
“We want Milwaukee County to be an employer where workers feel welcome to build their families and careers. The absence of a paid family leave policy often forces women – who already face gender pay equity challenges – to use sick time or vacation time to have a baby, and to care for themselves and their new baby after birth. Milwaukee County can do better to support our employees by offering a strong paid parental leave benefit that is gender-blind,” said Dimitrijevic.
“The United States is far behind the world in providing paid parental leave to both mothers and fathers, but Milwaukee County has an opportunity to set an example and lead the way on this issue. We look forward to the Department of Human Resources developing policy recommendations that ensure all employees are treated fairly and enable Milwaukee County to attract and retain talented young workers who are growing their families,” said Lipscomb.
In March, Chairman Lipscomb called for the Director of Human Resources to evaluate Milwaukee County’s parental and medical leave policies, and provide a written report to the County Board with findings and recommendations.
Staff from Human Resources delivered a presentation of the requested report at the June 7 meeting of the Committee on Personnel.
On a motion by Supervisor Dimitrijevic, the Committee on Personnel voted 5-0 in favor of referring the Lipscomb-Dimitrijevic proposal to the Department of Human Resources so the department could develop a set of specific policy recommendations.
