HB477INTRODUCED
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HB477
5ZNQMM6-1
By Representative Wood (D)
RFD: Ways and Means Education
First Read: 23-Apr-24
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5 5ZNQMM6-1 04/16/2024 GP (L)lg 2024-1531
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First Read: 23-Apr-24
SYNOPSIS:
Existing law does not provide for paid parental
leave for employees of local boards of education.
This bill would provide certain eligible
employees of local boards of education with 12
workweeks of paid parental leave following the birth of
a child, the placement of a child for adoption,
miscarriage, or stillbirth, to be taken within 12
months of the birth, placement, miscarriage, or
stillbirth.
This bill would require an employer to provide
compensation and health care coverage to eligible
employees who take paid parental leave in the same
manner as if the employee remained at work.
This bill would require an employer to recover
health care premiums if an employee on paid parental
leave fails to return to work or leaves his or her
employer within two years after he or she commenced
parental leave.
This bill would also require the State Board of
Education and each local board of education to adopt
rules.
Section 111.05 of the Constitution of Alabama of
2022, prohibits a general law whose purpose or effect
would be to require a new or increased expenditure of
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would be to require a new or increased expenditure of
local funds from becoming effective with regard to a
local governmental entity without enactment by a 2/3
vote unless: it comes within one of a number of
specified exceptions; it is approved by the affected
entity; or the Legislature appropriates funds, or
provides a local source of revenue, to the entity for
the purpose.
The purpose or effect of this bill would be to
require a new or increased expenditure of local funds
within the meaning of the section. If this bill is not
enacted by a 2/3 vote, it will not become effective
with regard to a local entity unless approved by the
local entity or until, and only as long as, the
Legislature appropriates funds or provides for a local
source of revenue.
A BILL
TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
Relating to employees of local boards of education; to
provide for paid parental leave for certain eligible employees
of local boards of education; to provide for compensation and
health care coverage during paid parental leave; to authorize
employers to recover health care premiums if an employee fails
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employers to recover health care premiums if an employee fails
to return to work or leaves his or her job in certain
circumstances; and to require the State Board of Education and
each local board of education to adopt rules; and in
connection therewith would have as its purpose or effect the
requirement of a new or increased expenditure of local funds
within the meaning of Section 111.05 of the Constitution of
Alabama of 2022.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF ALABAMA:
Section 1. (a) For the purposes of this section, the
term "eligible employee" refers to any certified or
noncertified employee of a local board of education, provided
that he or she has been employed by any local board of
education in this state for at least five years
(b) Beginning January 1, 2025, an eligible employee
shall be entitled to 12 workweeks of paid parental leave
following:
(1) The birth of child to the employee.
(2) The placement of a child with the employee for
purposes of adoption.
(3) The miscarriage or stillbirth of a child, if the
miscarriage or stillbirth is confirmed in writing by a health
care professional.
(c)(1) An eligible employee who exercises his or her
right to paid parental leave pursuant to this section shall
receive compensation at the same level and under the same
conditions that he or she would have been provided if the
employee had continued in employment continuously for the
duration of the leave.
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duration of the leave.
(2) An eligible employee who takes paid parental leave
pursuant to this section, on his or her return from that
leave, shall: (i) be restored to his or her position of
employment held by the employee when the leave commenced; or
(ii) be restored to an equivalent position. For the purposes
of this section, an equivalent position is a position that is
virtually identical to the employee's original position in
terms of pay, benefits, and other employment terms and
conditions.
(3) The taking of paid parental leave under this
section shall not: (i) result in the loss of any employment
benefit accrued prior to the date on which the leave
commenced, including, but not limited to, sick leave, personal
leave, or other paid leave; or (ii) otherwise affect an
employee's right to accrue any employment benefits.
(d) During any period that an eligible employee takes
paid parental leave pursuant to this section, his or her
employer shall maintain any health care coverage for the
duration of the leave at the level and under the same
conditions coverage would have been provided if the employee
had continued in employment continuously for the duration of
the leave.
(e)(1) The entitlement to paid parental leave pursuant
to subsection (b) shall expire at the end of the 12-month
period beginning on the date of the birth, placement,
miscarriage, or stillbirth that qualifies the employee for
paid leave.
(2) If not used by the end of the 12-month period, any
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(2) If not used by the end of the 12-month period, any
remaining paid parental leave may not accumulate for
subsequent use.
(3) Paid parental leave taken pursuant to subsection
(b) may not be taken intermittently or on a reduced leave
schedule unless agreed upon by the eligible employee and his
or her employer.
(f) An employer may recover its share of health plan
premiums during a period of paid parental leave if the
employee: (i) fails to return to work after the expiration or
exhaustion of his or her paid parental leave; or (ii) chooses
to no longer be employed by the local board of education
within two years of the commencement of his or her paid
parental leave.
(g) Paid parental leave taken under this section shall
run concurrently with leave taken under Section 25-1-61, Code
of Alabama 1975, and under the Family and Medical Leave Act of
1993, codified as 29 U.S.C. ยง 2611, et seq. Eligible employees
who take paid leave under this section while ineligible for
leave under the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 may take
leave under the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 in the
same benefit year only to the extent they remain eligible to
do so under the law.
(h)(1) The State Board of Education shall adopt rules
to implement and administer this section.
(2) Each local board of education shall adopt policies
to implement and administer this section.
Section 2.The purpose or effect of this bill would be
to require a new or increased expenditure of local funds
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to require a new or increased expenditure of local funds
within the meaning of Section 111.05 of the Constitution of
Alabama of 2022. If this bill is not enacted by a 2/3 vote, it
will not become effective with regard to a local entity unless
approved by the local entity or until, and only as long as,
the Legislature appropriates funds or provides for a local
source of revenue.
Section 3. This act shall become effective on October
1, 2024.
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