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Prairie Village poised to give 8 weeks paid parental leave to city employees, surpassing other cities’ policies

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The city of Prairie Village will consider amending its employee handbook to include eight weeks of paid parental leave within the first 12 months of a new birth or adoption.

Why it matters: If approved, Prairie Village would join Mission, Roeland Park and Shawnee as other Johnson County cities with paid parental leave policies on the books. County employees also currently receive paid parental leave.

But Prairie Village’s proposed policy appears to be the most generous in the county.

Mission and Roeland Park currently both offer six weeks for both parents, and Shawnee offers six weeks for the birthing parent and three weeks for a parent who doesn’t give birth, according to city documents.

Johnson County employees receive four weeks of paid parental leave within the first 12 months of a new birth or adoption.

Background:  Currently, Prairie Village employees are required to take paid sick and vacation leave — as well as unpaid leave — if they want to take time following a new birth or adoption.

City staff originally recommended offering six weeks of paid parental leave within 12 weeks following a birth.

But Councilmember Ian Graves amended the motion to include two additional weeks and the larger time window — an entire year after a birth — to take leave.

Key quote: “I want to be competitive and slightly ahead of market in the metro,” Graves said. “I think if you want to work in this space, and you’re talented and you’re motivated, I want you in Prairie Village.”

What’s next: The city council will formally consider the parental paid leave amendment on its consent agenda at the July 19 city council meeting, making it likely that it will be approved.

Correction: An earlier version of this story did not include Mission on the list of other Johnson County cities with paid parental leave policies. 

About the author

Juliana Garcia
Juliana Garcia

👋 Hi! I’m Juliana Garcia, and I cover Prairie Village and northeast Johnson County for the Johnson County Post.

I grew up in Roeland Park and graduated from Shawnee Mission North before going on to the University of Kansas, where I wrote for the University Daily Kansan and earned my bachelor’s degree in  journalism. Prior to joining the Post in 2019, I worked as an intern at the Kansas City Business Journal.

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