MYNORTHWEST NEWS

Seattle City Council rejects 12-week paid parental leave

Nov 24, 2015, 8:53 AM | Updated: 9:05 am

paid leave, family leave,...

Proposals at the state level and in the City of Seattle are asking for up to 26 weeks of paid parental leave for employees. (AP)

(AP)

Seattle city employees will have to settle for four weeks of parental leave rather than a proposed 12 weeks.

The city council voted down Kshama Sawant’s proposal to triple the parental leave benefit by a 5-4 margin on Monday.

“Think about it. We put in $1.5 million to get the four weeks,” said council member Jean Godden. “So what do you get when you get 12 weeks? Well I hope you can all do the arithmetic on this.”

Godden was one of the five council members to reject the proposal.

The full council approved the 2016 city budget with an 8-1 vote. Sawant was the only no vote.

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Seattle City Council rejects 12-week paid parental leave