Starting on July 1, Pima County will be offering its workers six weeks of paid parental leave.
The county's Board of Supervisors approved the new benefit in a 3-2 vote Tuesday.
As long as no issues come up in budget talks, county workers with newborn children or newly adopted children will be guaranteed six weeks of paid leave at 66 percent of their normal salary so they can bond with their babies.
Officials say the decision makes Pima County the first municipal government in Arizona to provide the benefit and the second public entity in the state to adopt a parental-leave leave policy.
The University of Arizona already has a parental-leave program for its faculty and staff members.
