Birmingham councillors will for the first time in their history be entitled to maternity and paternity pay.
Under the new pay deal, set to be adopted next week, councillors will continue to receive their £16,267 a year basic allowance for at least six months of maternity leave, possibly longer.
It means rank and file councillors have gone from having no parental leave allowance to having better terms than staff and has prompted calls for council workers maternity terms to be improved.
Senior councillors with extra responsibilities such as cabinet members who get £25,000 per year on top of their basic allowance, or those who chair committees, will also be entitled to maternity pay.
This will be set at 90 per cent of the special responsibility allowance for the first six weeks, 50 per cent between weeks seven and 18 and the statutory rate of £145.18 per week up to week 39.
Councillors are also entitled to two weeks paid paternity leave under the new scheme.
The scheme has been brought in 18 months after Labour councillor Brigid Jones, 31 who is now the city's deputy leader, complained that she would have to give up work to start a family as there is no maternity pay, sick pay or pension scheme.
At the time she was cabinet member for children's services overseeing a £1.2 million budget and thousands of staff.
She said: “Back in the day councils used to be made up of Victorian gentlemen, retired or business owners who could afford to do it as a hobby or in their spare time.
"It is now a full time job, and yet we are treated as volunteers and paid an allowance. We righlty get taxed on that and it should be a salary.
“It’s such an honour to be elected, you don’t think about it until later. It's like the dark ages."
She was concerned that the lack of support would deter young women like her from taking senior roles with the council.
Opposition Conservatives have supported the move to improve parental leave as being a councillor in Birmingham is now a demanding full time role.
But want a better deal for staff too saying the city council as a major employer should take a lead on parental leave rights.
Tory deputy leader Debbie Clancy said: "It is not only the right thing to do, we also know that better parental leave is good for us as employers too.
"It improves staff retention, keeping skills and knowledge in the organisation and also helps to attract new talent, as well as enhancing staff morale and wellbeing- improving productivity and reducing sickness absence. If we have happy employees, with happy families, we will have improved services to residents. Everybody wins."
They have called for a review to bring it into line with the six months full pay now being offered to back bench councillors.
