Hoboken City Workers Will Get ‘Full’ Salary For Parental Leave

HOBOKEN, NJ — When you’re a new parent, it’s tough enough trying to cobble together vacation and sick time to care for a newborn. But when you’re only getting two-thirds of your salary, a monumental task gets harder, according to Hoboken Mayor Ravinder Bhalla.

On Wednesday, Bhalla signed an executive order that he said will “ensure the full earned salary of city employees on parental leave by supplementing weekly wages provided through New Jersey Family Leave Insurance.”

According to Bhalla, the state insurance program pays up to two-thirds of a person’s salary with a cap at $637 per week. His executive order will have the city make up the difference, allowing the employee to receive their full wages while on parental leave.

The policy became effective immediately upon signing.

A pair of Hoboken city employees – both of whom are expecting a child – praised the executive order and said it will help them focus on what’s important… their new families.

“I want to thank Mayor Bhalla for signing this executive order,” said Anna Seguinot, the legal secretary in Hoboken’s Office of Corporation Counsel.

Seguinot, who is expecting her first child, said that the order will help her “focus on being a new mom and not on whether I am going to be able to pay my bills during my maternity leave.”

Ryan Sharp, the city’s director of transportation and parking, is expecting his second child. He said that the order was a “huge step forward” for Hoboken caregivers and parents.

“It was tough after our first child, trying to cobble together vacation and sick time to care for my newborn," Sharp said. “It's so important to spend time bonding with a baby and being there for the milestones.”

According to city officials, to be eligible under the executive order, a person must have served as a full-time city employee for at least one year at the time of applying for Paid Parental Leave. The employee must also be approved for the Family Medical Leave Act or the New Jersey Family Leave Act as well as the Family Leave Insurance provision of the NJ Temporary Disability Benefits Law or subsequent amendments, and they must not have used this benefit within a 12-month period.

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Photo: City of Hoboken

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