As Bay Area employers are well aware, San Francisco has several local employment-related ordinances that provide additional benefits to individuals performing work within the geographical boundaries of the City. One such benefit is paid parental leave.

Currently, employers who have 20 or more employees (located anywhere) are required to provide eligible San Francisco employees with up to 6 weeks of supplemental compensation when an employee takes time off to bond with a new child and the employee receives Paid Family Leave benefits from the State of California. Effective July 1, 2020, this requirement will increase to 8 weeks of supplemental compensation when the State of California Paid Family Leave (PFL) program expands from 6 weeks of benefits to 8 weeks of benefits.   You can read more about the changes coming to the PFL program here.

Employers should review their parental leave policies to ensure that they provide for sufficient supplemental compensation to comply with the requirements of the San Francisco Paid Parental Leave Ordinance.