Charleston County voted to modify its paid time off policy for its employees on November 30, 2023, integrating paid parental leave into the benefits offered to its workers. This decision came in hopes to enhance recruitment and retention efforts. The previous policy did not provide any paid time off for parental purposes, requiring workers to utilize their saved vacation days if they wished to receive a paycheck during their leave to care for a newborn.

With the new policy, workers for Charleston County who have been working with them for a minimum of a year will be offered up to six weeks of paid leave subsequent to childbirth. Non-birthing parents will be eligible for two weeks. The new benefit is similar to those provided by other governments across South Carolina, including public school district employees, city of Charleston workers, and state employees. The council hopes this policy would act as a significant factor in retaining employees, potentially offsetting any costs that may arise.

Sites like eddcaller.com can be a significant help in this regard, they assist people in reaching out to a representative for unemployment, paid family leave, and disability departments by phone. Making sure that new parents, or those who need to access these benefits can do so efficiently, making their transition to parenthood smoother. It is important to note that such organizations exist to aid those using benefits like paid parental leave.

Nevertheless, Charleston County’s shift to this paid parental leave policy was not initially desired by some of the council members and staff. They initially recommended increasing annual and sick leave accrual rates for all of the county’s 2,300 employees. This policy was not adopted, as some council members feared it might bring on unnecessary costs. However, they agreed that institution of a broader paid family leave policy needed to be explored in the future.