“Yesterday North Carolina lawmakers took an important step to make our state healthier and more successful, and to address the affordability crisis for families working for the state, when the state House passed the Public Workforce Modernization Act in a unanimous, bipartisan vote. The state Senate passed this bill, also in a unanimous vote, in June and we expect Gov. Stein to sign it into law. It expands paid parental leave policies for state, public school, and community college employees to 12 weeks for full-time workers. It includes leave for a newborn biological child or a newly placed adopted, foster, or otherwise legally placed child under age 18 whose parent is a leave-eligible state employee. It provides prorated leave for part-time state employees and allows for paid leave following a miscarriage or death of a child during birth. Employees who take this leave will not exhaust their vacation or sick leave. 

“Its enactment will strengthen our state government and the citizens and families it serves, allowing more moms and other caregivers to stay in the workforce, easing state government labor shortages, and improving the economic security of working families in our state. This is a meaningful, significant step forward – but our work will not be done until every North Carolinian, in the private as well as the public sector, can access paid family and medical leave when serious illness strikes or a baby or other relative needs care.”