School and community college employees: paid disability and parental leave.

Plain English Breakdown

The final status of the bill is still uncertain, as it has passed the Legislature but awaits executive action.

Paid Leave for School and Community College Employees

This law requires school districts and community college districts to provide up to 14 weeks of paid leave with health coverage benefits for employees who need time off due to pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions.

What This Bill Does

• Requires public schools and community colleges to give up to 14 weeks of paid leave to certificated and classified employees needing time off because of pregnancy, miscarriage, childbirth, termination of pregnancy, or recovery from these events.
• Allows the paid leave to start before expected childbirth if the employee is disabled by pregnancy or related conditions.
• Requires employers to keep health coverage for the duration of the leave at the same level as if the employee had not taken time off.
• Prohibits deducting this leave from other types of leaves an employee might be eligible for.

Who It Names or Affects

• Certificated and classified employees in public schools and community colleges who need time off due to pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions.

Terms To Know

Certificated employee

A teacher or other professional staff member at a school or college who has been given certification by the state.

Classified service

The group of non-teaching employees in public schools and community colleges, such as clerical workers and maintenance staff.

Limits and Unknowns

• Does not specify what happens if an employee works for both a school district and a community college.
• Does not provide details on how the paid leave will be funded by employers.
• The bill has passed the Legislature but its final status, including whether it is signed into law or vetoed, is still unknown.

Official Summary Text

AB 65, as introduced, Aguiar-Curry.
School and community college employees: paid disability and parental leave.
Existing law requires the governing board of a school district, and the governing board of a community college district, to provide for a leave of absence from duty for a certificated employee or an academic employee of the district who is required to be absent from duty because of pregnancy, miscarriage, childbirth, and recovery from those conditions.
Existing law authorizes the governing board of a school district, and the governing board of a community college district, to provide for a leave of absence from duty as it deems appropriate for a female employee in the classified service of the district who is required to be absent from duty because of pregnancy or convalescence following childbirth. Existing law authorizes a governing board to adopt rules and regulations about leaves of absence for classified employees for these purposes, and
authorizes a governing board to provide in the rules and regulations whether the leave granted shall be with or without pay, as provided.
This bill would delete the latter provisions authorizing a governing board of a school district and the governing board of a community college district to adopt those rules and regulations. The bill instead would require a public school employer to, for a certificated employee or an employee in the classified service of the public school employer, and would require a community college district to, for an academic employee or an employee in the classified service of the community college district, provide up to 14 weeks of a leave of absence with specified pay benefits for an employee who is required to be absent from duty because of pregnancy, miscarriage, childbirth, termination of pregnancy, or recovery from those conditions, as provided. The bill would authorize the paid leave to begin before and continue after childbirth if
the employee is actually disabled by pregnancy, childbirth, termination of pregnancy, or a related condition. The bill would prohibit a leave of absence taken pursuant to these provisions from being deducted from other leaves of absence, as provided, and would require public school employers and community college districts to maintain group health coverage for an employee who takes a leave of absence under these provisions for the duration of the leave of absence at the same level and under the same conditions that coverage would have been provided if the employee had not taken a leave of absence. The bill would prohibit any other eligibility requirements, including, but not limited to, minimum hours worked or length of service, before an employee disabled by pregnancy, childbirth, termination of pregnancy, or related medical conditions is eligible for a paid leave of absence under these provisions.

Current Bill Text

Download Bill PDF