Gov. Cooper issues paid parental leave order for state workers

RALEIGH — North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper on Thursday announced that his state agencies will begin offering employees paid leave for births, a move he says will improve health for mothers and children and reduce inequities in the workplace.

Cooper signed an executive order that will provide eight weeks of full paid parental leave for those who give birth as of Sept. 1 and four weeks to their spouses or partners. Four weeks also would be provided for adoptions or receiving foster children.

"When you're a parent, you never forget what it's like to welcome a new baby into the family. Everything in your life changes in an instant," Cooper said at the Executive Mansion event, with an audience that included mothers holding their cooing small children. "Parents deserve this time to care for their kids, and kids deserve healthy beginnings."

Such paid leave is already offered by many private-sector companies. More than a dozen states mandate it for state employees or both private and public employees, according to Cooper's office. North Carolina state employees affected by the order can use their regular earned vacation or sick leave when a child is born, as well as three months of unpaid leave, as federal law requires.

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