Chicago is offering 12 weeks of paid parental leave to city employees. The new policy applies to birthing and nonbirthing parents.

Chicago city employees will be eligible for up to 12 weeks of paid family leave. (Pat Nabong/Sun-Times file)

For a city that, for years, had no maternity policy for its female employees, Chicago has certainly come a long way, baby.

In yet another pre-election sweetener, Mayor Lori Lightfoot announced Friday that the city is expanding its parental leave policy, effective Jan. 1, to allow all 32,000 city employees up to 12 weeks of paid parental leave whether they are the “birthing or non-birthing parent.”