The Atlanta City Council approved an ordinance on Sept. 21 establishing 12 weeks of paid childcare leave for all City of Atlanta employees. The legislation was led by Councilmember Matt Westmoreland.
The revised family leave policy increases coverage from six to 12 weeks per year.
“Those first weeks and months with a new child are irreplaceable. Parents should have the time to be present, bond with their children, and care for their families without having to choose between that time and a paycheck,” Westmoreland said in a statement following the vote.
Under Atlanta’s current ordinance, city employees are eligible for sick leave with pay for death, illness, pregnancy, childbirth, loss or termination of a pregnancy, and time required to care for family members. For example, care is covered while a child is receiving medical care in a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU).
Tahajana Spence, senior project manager in Mayor Andre Dickens’ office, said since the conversation started in 2024, the goal has been to “expand family leave in a sustainable way while removing the outdated language between primary and secondary caregivers.”
“Families are formed in different ways, and our policy must reflect that reality,” Spence said. “We believe caregiving is a shared responsibility and caregivers adjust holistically as a family and be present during those early formative months.”
The legislation – which will go into effect on Jan. 1, 2027 – was supported by Gears, the Carter Center’s Roslyn Carter Mental and Health Caregiver Program, Nine to Five Georgia, Healthy Mothers, Healthy Babies, and City finance and Human Resources departments.
“As someone who had a child while I was serving in council, and only was able to take a couple of weeks off to be with my child during that childbirth, I know how important it is to be there,” Atlanta City Council member Jason Winston said.
Items approved at the Sept. 21 Atlanta City Council meeting include:
- The City plans to purchase 12.6 acres of property on Hamilton E. Holmes Drive from The Conservation Fund for $2.3 million to develop the property into a public park and greenspace.
- Edgewood’s Walker Park will be renamed Rose Hill Park to recognize the history of Rose Hill neighborhood, a thriving Black working-class subdivision in the early 1900s.
- Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport will receive an additional $239 million to expand Concourse D and 29 new plane trains.
- The Atlanta Beltline has been awarded $7 million total in federal grants to complete the Southside Trail Segment 6, which runs along Bill Kennedy Way between Glenwood Avenue and Memorial Drive over Interstate-20.
