Paid parental leave, pantsuits for women, colored shirts for men those changes are coming for Mormon church … – Salt Lake Tribune

Going forward, full-time, benefited employees who give birth "will be eligible for six weeks of paid medical maternity leave to recover from childbirth," the policy memo reads.

At the same time, full-time, benefited employees also can take one week of "paid parental leave," the church document says, "to bond with their new children from birth or adoption." For mothers who give birth, this means an additional week of leave.

Until 2014, an LDS woman who gave birth or had a child under age 18 was not allowed to teach full-time seminary classes in high schools or Institutes of Religion at colleges.

The change made it possible "for families to decide what best meets their needs as it relates to mothers working while raising children," Mormon officials said at the time. "This policy is consistent with other church departments."

Now, mothers not only can keep their jobs, but also take a maternity leave and return to them even with a newborn.

Starting in late December, employees who have been ill, injured or otherwise disabled for seven days can receive two-thirds of their salary for up to 45 days.

The plan, the memo says, should offer "peace of mind."

The church also is launching a wellness plan that will include education, counseling and convenient access to exercise facilities.

A wellness center on the seventh floor of the towering LDS Church Office Building on North Temple currently is under construction, with plans to open in October. It will include cardio and weightlifting equipment, group fitness studios, exercise classes, showers, healthy vending options and on-site coaches.

As to the dress-code changes, headquarters will now allow women to don professional pantsuits as well as skirts and dresses, and men may wear light-colored shirts with ties, and remove their jackets when weather is hot or for "movement through the building."

In May 2011, the male-dominated church made a similar nod to the discomforts of weather, when it eliminated the pantyhose requirement for female employees at headquarters, allowing them to go barelegged.

This story will be updated.

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Paid parental leave, pantsuits for women, colored shirts for men those changes are coming for Mormon church ... - Salt Lake Tribune