COLUMBUS (WCMH) — The City of Columbus will soon offer its employees Paid Family leave.

In a press conference Wednesday, the city announced the policy will offer city workers four weeks of paid leave for parents, and two weeks to care for a sick family member at 70 percent of normal pay.

This benefit is for both men and women and adoptive parents according to Lee Cole the Director of Communications for the city.

An additional provision stipulates that employees would also have to take a two-week waiting period, where they use sick or accrued vacation time, or unpaid time before the paid leave can begin.

The benefit will be extended to both men and women and also cover adoptive parents, she said.

This would allow a new mother or father city employee up to 6 weeks of time off, with some level of salary.

Right now for the roughly 8,500 employees of the city, the only paid leave is for birth mothers using FMLA or short-term disability.