Alabama grocery store chain to offer paid parental leave

The Publix grocery store chain says it will start offering paid parental leave to employees who are new parents. The company website says it operates fifteen stores in the Mobile area, five around Tuscaloosa, and seven in the Montgomery area. The Florida-based company announced this week that eligible full-time and part-time workers will be able to take off the time during the first year of the birth or adoption of a child, starting with the new year. The privately-held, employee-owned company has over two hundred thousand workers at over a thousand stores in Alabama, as well as Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia. Publix didn't offer details on how much paid time off new parents would get. The new benefits come as retailers across the U.S. are facing a worker shortage and trying to retain employees.