San Francisco Grants Fully Paid Parental Leave

San Francisco has become the first city in the US to approve six weeks of fully paid leave for new parents.

The law was passed unanimously on Tuesday by the city's Board of Supervisors.

Mothers and fathers, including same-sex couples, who either bear or adopt a child will be covered by the ordinance.

The state of California currently already pays about 55% of a worker's salary for six weeks when they take parental leave.

The San Francisco measure requires employers with at least 20 employees to make up the other 45%.

Mayor Ed Lee is expected to sign legislation, which takes full effect in 2018.

"The vast majority of workers in this country have little or no access to paid parental leave, and that needs to change," said Supervisor Scott Wiener, who introduced the measure.

His office said 12% of workers across the US receive paid family leave through their employers.

San Francisco already offers 12 weeks of fully paid parental leave to its approximately 30,000 city employees.

Technology companies in Silicon Valley have boosted family leave benefits to attract the best talent.

Netflix (Xetra: 552484 - news) offers up to a year paid family leave, Facebook (NasdaqGS: FB - news) four months and Microsoft (Euronext: MSF.NX - news) eight weeks (Other OTC: UBGXF - news) .