Mayor Stoney Announces Expanded Parental Leave Policy for City Employees

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Mayor Levar M. Stoney is pleased to announce an expanded Parental Leave Policy for City of Richmond employees.

The expanded policy, which took effect July 7, provides:
  • 8 weeks of paid maternity leave for birth mothers,
  • 8 weeks of paid bonding leave for the non-birthing parent,
  • 8 weeks of paid parental leave for the adoption/foster care placement of a child (City of Richmond employees),
  • 4 weeks of paid sick parent leave to care for a sick parent with a serious health condition. 

To be eligible for Paid Parental leave, city employees must meet the eligibility criteria for Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA) and meet one of the FMLA criteria for these four Paid Parental leave categories.

The City of Richmond was among the first localities in the Commonwealth of Virginia to provide paid parental leave. The latest expansion of the city’s benefit from four to eight weeks is in line with the recent paid parental leave policy announced by Gov. Ralph S. Northam covering qualifying state employees.

 “I applaud Governor Northam for announcing this important policy change for state workers,” said Mayor Stoney, who first proposed Richmond’s parental leave policy when he introduced the city’s biennial budget in March. “Our newly expanded parental leave policy will now provide the same benefits to City workers, and allow us to remain competitive in recruiting and retaining talented employees.

“City of Richmond employees work very hard to keep our city running smoothly,” continued the mayor. “Providing these public servants uninterrupted bonding time with a new child and time to take care of a sick parent is the right thing to do.”


For more information on the Parental Leave policy please contact Mary Sharp at MaryJane.Sharp@richmondgov.com or call 646-5630.