UNITED STATES—President Donald Trump signed a bill on Friday, December 20 to ensure federal employees receive paid parental leave for 12 weeks.

The paid parental leave program will allow federal employees up to 12 weeks of paid time off for either a birth, adoption, or foster of a new child. The new bill applies to both men and women and will be open to federal employees starting October 2020.

There are some companies that do not offer paid leave for having a new child, and those who do, do not receive a full 12 weeks of paid leave. The United States currently has the Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA), which requires employers with 50 and more employees to give parents 12 weeks of leave to care for a new child, along with caring for an ill parent or ill child. The FMLA can be used all at once or split up.

With the signing of the new bill, the POTUS and federal employees avoided a second government shutdown. The new paid parental leave comes with a 3.1 percent pay raise for the next year. Ivanka Trump, daughter and advisor to the POTUS, was a significant supporter of the bill, amongst others.