Summer is over, and the kids are back at school—and so are their parents. As you well know, some of your employees will undoubtedly be traveling to their children’s schools at various times throughout the school year for meetings and activities. Do you know the rules regarding when parents can take work leave to participate in their kids’ school activities?
If you have 25 or more employees, an employee who is a parent, guardian, or grandparent with custody of a child in grades K through 12, or attending a licensed day care facility, is entitled to take off up to 40 hours each year (no more than 8 hours each month) to participate in the activities of the school or day care. The employee must give you reasonable advance notice and must use accrued vacation, personal, or comp time for the time off. The employee can also use unpaid time off, to the extent made available by the employer.
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At your request, the employee must provide documentation from the school or daycare as proof that the employee participated in the facility’s activities on a specific date and at a particular time. Note that if both parents are employed by you at the same worksite, the leave entitlement applies only to the parent who first gives you notice. The other parent may take a planned absence only with your approval. It is illegal to discharge or otherwise discriminate against an employee for taking leave under this law.
Another law, which applies to all employers regardless of size, prohibits terminating or discriminating against an employee who is a parent or guardian for taking time off to appear at the child’s school because of a suspension or expulsion. Again, the employee must give you reasonable notice before taking the leave.
Don’t get caught short by parental leave requests—or, worse still, unintentionally violate your employees’ parental leave rights and invite a lawsuit. Do your homework with our 14-point Parent School Visit Leave Checklist.