Quick Hits
- The Allegheny County Board of Health is reviewing amendments to a proposed paid parental leave ordinance issued in May 2026 that would shorten the length of paid leave from eighteen to twelve weeks and revise employer eligibility from all employers to those with fifteen or more employees.
- The Board will vote on whether to approve the paid parental leave policy as amended on September 28, 2026.
In May 2026, the Allegheny County Board of Health proposed amendments that would add a mandatory paid parental leave requirement to the Allegheny County Health Department’s rules and regulations for private employers. The original proposal included the mandate that employers of all sizes in Allegheny County (the county in which the city of Pittsburgh sits) provide eighteen weeks of paid leave to eligible employees. After the submission and review of more than 1,500 comments during the comment period, the Board has now introduced a revised version of the proposal which is intended to appease some of the business community’s concerns. The proposal made the following changes:
- Leave amount lowered to twelve weeks from the originally proposed eighteen weeks
- The maximum weekly paid parental benefit is set to $4,200 for full-time employees, and weekly average salary over the last six months for part-time employees
- Covered employers are now defined as employers of fifteen or more employees (previously all employers)
- Employee eligibility increased to at least 180 continuous days worked for full-time employees, and part-time employees must have been employed for 180 days and have worked at least 625 hours during that period
- Addition of stillbirth as an event triggering eligibility
- Effective date changed to 180 days after the passage of the proposal or at the beginning of the employer’s next budget cycle
Further, language was added to clarify that domestic partners in committed relationships taking care of children would also qualify for leave, and that permanent placements of children would also trigger qualification. During the Board’s meeting it was also clarified that employers would be allowed to require leave under the federal Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) to run concurrently with the county paid leave if employees are otherwise eligible for FMLA.
Additionally, if passed, the amount of paid sick leave under the Allegheny County Paid Sick Leave Act would increase from an accrual of one hour for every thirty-five hours worked up to forty hours per year to one hour for every thirty hours worked up to seventy-two hours a year.
Key Takeaways
While the formal public comment period for the Board of Health to take recommendations into consideration is over and the comment response document will not be updated, interested parties can still generally contact the Board of Health to submit comments. If the Board of Health votes in favor of the ordinance on September 28, the amendments will go to the Allegheny County Council for a vote, then to the county executive for signature if approved by the Allegheny County Council.
Ogletree Deakins’ Pittsburgh office will continue to monitor developments and will provide updates on the Leaves of Absence and Pennsylvania blogs as additional information becomes available.
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