Jonathan F. Whalen, Esq., Campbell Durrant, P.C. | October 2026
Since the Allegheny County Health Department, back in May of this year, voted to move forward a plan for proposed paid parental leave, employers have been closely following the proposal. In mid-September, the County Health Department scaled back the original proposal, which formerly would have applied to each and every employer in Allegheny County, regardless of size, and would have required the provision not less than eighteen (18) weeks of paid parental leave (not including any paid sick leave already required by the County’s paid sick leave ordinance) to all employees who had been with the employer for at least thirty (30) days. A link to a press release issued by the County at the time of these revisions can be found here: Board of Health Introduces Revised Paid Parental Leave Policy – Allegheny County, PA.
In the proposal’s current form, among other changes (including the addition of “stillbirths” as an event which qualifies an employee for paid leave under the proposal), the paid parental leave requirement would not apply to employers with fewer than fifteen (15) total (full-time/part-time) employees, and the length of paid leave has been shortened from eighteen (18) weeks to twelve (12) weeks. While parental leave must still be compensated at the employee’s same base rate of pay, the maximum benefit has been capped at $4,200 per week, and employees must have worked for the employer for six (6) months or six-hundred twenty five (625) hours in order to be eligible.
The proposal continues to be applicable to both full-time and part-time employees. The proposal continues to require employers to maintain health insurance benefits for the employee while taking parental leave and to prohibit employers from retaliating or taking any adverse action against an employee for utilizing this benefit. The variety of administrative burdens placed on employers also remain, including but not limited to, notification of benefits, processing requests for leave and making payments to employees utilizing parental leave. These provisions mirror the requirements already imposed by the Family and Medical Leave Act.
On Monday, September 28, the proposal in this somewhat scaled back form was officially approved by the Board of Health in a unanimous vote. It has now been forwarded to County Council for final passage, which will require a majority vote of at least eight (8) Council members. Proponents of the proposal highlight the benefits of paid parental leave to employees who may require time to recover from childbirth and the benefits of paid parental leave on factors like infant bonding and infant health outcomes. Critics of the proposal claim that its terms are vague and that it presents significant financial burden on employers.
Additionally, the proposal, even in its current form, can potentially apply to employers that are not even located in Allegheny County. The proposal defines “employer” to mean an “entity situated or doing business within the geographical boundaries of Allegheny County and that employs fifteen (15) or more persons,” and defines “employee” to include (with certain limited exceptions, such as for temporary or seasonal employees) anyone who “performs work within the geographic boundaries of the County of Allegheny for at least 80 hours in a Year.”
Though the proposal has now inched very close to enactment, significant questions regarding employers’ ability to fund the program’s implementation and manage the significant financial and administrative burdens the proposal would impose remain unanswered. This situation is only compounded by the fact that, as was addressed in our July update, the proposal is also coupled with a substantial expansion of the current paid sick time requirements for County employers. Municipal employers outside of Allegheny County should monitor this program’s progress because it could be used as a model for similar paid parental leave legislation, either statewide or in other localities.
If ultimately passed, employers will have one (1) year to implement the parental leave program—rather than the earlier of either six (6) months or the employer’s next budget cycle, as was the case under the original proposal.