State’s Largest Employer Finally Adopts LGBT-Inclusive Family Leave Policy

The University of Pittsburgh Medical Center announced that it will begin offering family leave to its LGBT employees.

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Equality Pennsylvania just announced that University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC), the largest employer in the state, has decided to adopt an LGBT-inclusive family -leave policy. In a press release just sent out by Equality PA, Executive Director Ted Martin notes that UPMC’s decision was spurred by an employee who was denied leave after his partner of 17 years got sick and needed surgery. That’s when Equality PA alerted UPMC to the “hurtful gaps in its leave policy” and, according to the press release:

The UPMC team immediately got to work examining all their policies and updating them to ensure that committed same-sex couples were given the same measure of protection as all families.

And apparently the company didn’t stop there. The press release states that UPMC has also pledged its support to HB/SB300, the bill that would protect LGBT people from discrimination in employment, housing and public accommodations. These actions, says Equality PA Executive Director Ted Martin, set a precedent for other state employers to create “a safe and welcoming place for LGBT people,” and to get lawmakers on the ball to enact laws that protect all Pennsylvania citizens.

File this one under “Progress”!

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