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Good news for local government employees: starting tomorrow, D.C. will begin offering employees paid family leave.

According to a release, employees of the D.C. government can now receive up to eight weeks of paid leave for “the birth or adoption of a child or to care for a family member with a serious health condition,” per the new program.

“I am very proud that the District government is leading the way by providing new parents a chance to bond with their children, as well as offering family members the ability to care for loved ones without worrying about leave time or whether they will have to forego paychecks. We are doing the right thing for our employees and their families,” Mayor Vince Gray said in a statement. “We want to continue to be an employer of choice, and to be viewed as a child-and family-friendly city. I further challenge all employers in the city and the region to follow the District government’s forward-thinking example and provide this benefit.”

Under the D.C. Family and Medical Leave Act, both government and private sector employees are “[allowed] up to 16 weeks of unpaid leave in any 24-month period for specified reasons.” While that remains the case for private sector employers (unless they have their own paid family leave program), District employees will now get paid family leave. Less than 16 percent of state and local governments have paid family leave programs for employees and less than 12 percent of employers in the private sector offer it.

Additionally, D.C. was also awarded a nearly $100,000 grant from the Department of Labor to study the “feasibility and impact” of employers in D.C. offering paid family leave.