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The FDIC has said that it has agreed in negotiations with the NTEU union to provide six weeks of paid parental leave per year to employees effective in January, pending ratification of the three-year contract by NTEU members.
The leave would be available for the birth, adoption or foster placement of a child and would be in addition to the 12 weeks of unpaid leave available for those purposes under the Family and Medical Leave Act. It would not cover medical situations for which unpaid leave is available under that law, however.
All employees would become eligible for the paid leave upon hiring—there is a one-year waiting period under the FMLA—and the leave would have to be taken within one year of the birth, adoption or placement.
“The paid parental leave will allow the FDIC to be more competitive with the private sector in attracting the next generation of top talent,” FDIC chairman Jelena McWilliams said in the announcement.
The FDIC is one of the few agencies outside the Postal Service where pay and benefits policies are subject to labor-management negotiations.
There have been reports that the SEC intends to provide a similar benefit but unlike the FDIC, it has made no public announcement.