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STATE OF OKLAHOMA
1st Session of the 59th Legislature (2023)
SENATE BILL 364 By: Pugh
AS INTRODUCED
An Act relating to school employees; entitling full-
time public school district employee s who have worked
for a certain amount of time to certain amount of
paid maternity leave; directing the leave be used in
certain time period; providing for expiration of
leave; directing maternity leave be in addition to
certain sick leave; prohibiting emp loyee on maternity
leave from being deprived of cer tain compensation or
benefits; directing the Legislature to appropriate
adequate funding to provide paid maternity leave to
certain school employees; providing for allocation of
funds if certain appropriat ion is not made; providing
for promulgation of rule s; amending 70 O.S. 2021,
Section 6-104.1, which relates to leave without pay
for teachers; updating statutory reference; allowing
maternity leave in addition to ce rtain sick leave and
extended leave; updating statutory language; amending
70 O.S. 2021, Section 6-104.5, which relates to pay
deductions for certain leave ; adding statutory
reference; allowing certain deductions after
exhausting certain sick leave and maternity leave;
amending 70 O.S. 2021, Section 6-104.6, which relates
to establishment of leave sharing programs; allowi ng
certain district employees to participate in certain
shared leave after exhausting maternity leave;
requiring maternity leave and sick leave to be used
prior to shared sick leave; making language gender
neutral; providing for codification; providing a n
effective date; and declaring an emergency .
BE IT ENACTED BY THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF OKLAHOMA:
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SECTION 1. NEW LAW A new section of law to be codified
in the Oklahoma Statutes as Section 6-104.8 of Title 70, unless
there is created a du plication in numbering, reads as follows:
A. A full-time employee of a public school district in this
state who has been employed by the school distric t for at least one
year and has worked at least one thousand two hundred fifty (1,25 0)
hours during the preceding twelve-month period shall be entitled to
twelve (12) weeks of paid maternity leave following the birth of the
employee’s child. The twelve (12) weeks of paid maternity leave
shall be used in the twelve (12) months following t he birth of the
school district employee’s child and shall expire at the end of the
twelve-month period.
B. Paid maternity leave provided pursuant to this section shall
be in addition to and not in place of s ick leave due to pregnancy,
as provided for in Section 6-104 of Title 70 of the Oklahoma
Statutes.
C. A school district employee who takes maternity leave
pursuant to the provisions of this section shall not be deprive d of
any compensation or other benefi ts to which the employee is
otherwise entitled.
D. Each fiscal year, the Le gislature shall appropriate adequate
funding to the State Board of Education for the purpose of providing
paid maternity leave to eligible scho ol district employees pursuant
to this act. If the Legislature does not appropriate adequate
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funding specifically for the purpose of providing paid maternity
leave to school district employees, the State Board of Education
shall allocate from the funds ap propriated to the State Board of
Education for the support of public school activiti es an amount to
fully fund paid maternity leave.
E. The State Board of Education may promulgate rules to
implement the provisions of this section.
SECTION 2. AMENDATORY 70 O.S. 2021, Section 6-104.1, is
amended to read as follows :
Section 6-104.1. After exhausting sick leave and extended leave
pursuant to Sections 6 -104 and 6-104.5 of Title 70 of the Oklahoma
Statutes this title and maternity leav e pursuant to Section 1 of
this act, a full-time teacher who, with the proper approv al of the
district board of education, takes not more than ninety (90) school
days of leave without pay to care for the teacher ’s child during the
first year of the child ’s life, shall receive full credit for the
days on leave without pay as though the tea cher had been on leave
with pay for purposes of computing experience for the minimum
teacher salary schedule. A teacher on leave without pay pursuant to
this section who pays the actuarial cost, as determined by the Board
of Trustees of the Teachers’ Retirement System of Oklahoma, shall
have the period during which such leave without pay is taken,
counted toward retirement service credit as though the teacher had
been on leave with pay. The teacher shall notify their his or her
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employer and the System in writing within thirty ( 30) days from the
date he or she returns to service that they he or she will pay such
actuarial cost. The teacher shall have up to twelve (12) months
from the date he or she returns to s ervice to pay such actuarial
cost.
SECTION 3. AMENDATORY 70 O.S. 2021, Section 6 -104.5, is
amended to read as follows:
Section 6-104.5. A. If, after exhausting all sick leave
pursuant to Section 6 -104 of this title and maternity leave pursuant
to Section 1 of this act, a teacher is absent from his or her d uties
due to personal acciden tal injury, illness, or pregnancy, the
teacher shall receive for a period of not to exceed twenty (20) days
his or her full contract salary less the amount:
1. actually Actually paid a certified substitute teacher for
his or her position if a certified substitute teacher is hired; or
2. normally Normally paid a certified substitute teacher for
his or her position if a c ertified substitute teacher is not hired.
B. The district’s plan may provide that the teacher is entitled
to payment for accrued but unused sick leave upon termination of
employment.
SECTION 4. AMENDATORY 70 O.S. 2021, Section 6 -104.6, is
amended to read as follows:
Section 6-104.6. A. The board of education of each school
district may establish a leave sharing progr am for all district
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employees. The program shall permit district employees to donate
sick leave to a fellow distr ict employee who is pregnant or
recovering from childbirth or who is suffering from or has a
relative or household member suffering from an ex traordinary or
severe illness, injury, impairment, or physical or mental condition
which has caused or is likely t o cause the employee to take leave
without pay or to terminate employment.
B. As used in this section:
1. “Relative of the employee ” means a spouse, child, stepchild,
grandchild, grandparent, stepparent, or parent of the employee;
2. “Household members” means those persons who reside in the
same home, who have reciprocal duties to and do provide financial
support for one another. This term s hall include foster children
and legal wards even if they do not live in the household. The term
does not include persons sharing the same general house, when the
living style is primarily that of a dormitory or commune;
3. “Severe” or “extraordinary” means serious, extreme , or life-
threatening including temporary disability resulting from pregnancy,
miscarriage, childbirth, and recovery therefrom; and
4. “District employee” means a teacher or any full -time
employee of the school district.
C. A district employee may be eligible to receive shared leave
pursuant to the following conditions:
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1. The board of education determines that the employee meets
the criteria described in this section; and
2. The employee has abided b y district policies regarding the
use of sick leave.
D. A district employee may donate annual leave to another
district employee only pursuant to the following conditions:
1. The receiving employee has exhausted, or will exhaust, only
maternity leave granted pursuant to Section 1 of thi s act or sick
leave earned pursuant to Section 6 -104 of this title due to
pregnancy, miscarriage, childbirth and r ecovery therefrom, an
illness, injury, impairment, or physical or mental condition, which
is of an extraordinary or severe nature, and involve s the employee,
a relative of the employee , or household member;
2. The condition has caused, or is likely to cau se, the
employee to go on leave without p ay or to terminate employment;
3. The board of education of the dis trict permits the leave to
be shared with an eligible employee;
4. The amount of leave to be donated is within the limits set
by the board of educ ation of the district; and
5. District employees may not donate excess sick leave that the
donor would not be able to otherwise take.
E. The board of education of each school district shall
determine the amount of donated leave an employee may receive.
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F. The board of education shall require t he employee to submit,
prior to approval or disapproval, a medical c ertificate from a
licensed physician or health care practitioner verifying the severe
or extraordinary nature and expected duration of the conditio n.
G. Donated sick leave is transferable between employees of
different school districts in the state with t he agreement of both
boards of education of each school district.
H. The receiving employee shall be paid the regular rate of pay
of the employee. The sick leave received will be designa ted as
shared sick leave and be maintained separately from all other sick
leave balances.
I. Any donated sick leave may only be used by the recipient for
the purposes specified in this section.
J. Only Maternity leave granted pursuant to Section 1 of thi s
act and sick leave earned pursuant to Section 6 -104 of this title
available for use by the recip ient must shall be used prior to using
shared sick leave.
K. Any shared sick leave not used by the recipient during each
occurrence as determined by the boar d of education shall be returned
to the donor. The shared sick leav e remaining will be divided am ong
the donors on a prorated basis based on the original donated value
and returned at its original donor value and r einstated to the
annual leave balance of each donor.
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L. All donated sick leave must shall be given voluntarily. No
employee shall be coerced, threatened, intimidated, or financially
induced into donating sick leave for purposes of the leave sharing
program.
M. In addition to the sick leave sha ring program provided for
in this section, the board of education of each school district may
establish a sick leave sharing bank for all district employees. A
district employee may donate sick leave to a common fu nd which may
be used by any district empl oyee who is eligible to receive shared
leave as set forth in subsect ion A of this section. Th e terms and
conditions for donation and use of sick leave to a leave sharing
bank shall be subject to the provisions of t his section, unless
negotiations, entered into pursuant to Section 509.1 et seq. of this
title, between distr ict employees and the scho ol district establish
terms and conditions for a sick leave sharing bank in excess of
those provided for in this section.
SECTION 5. This act shall become effective July 1, 2023.
SECTION 6. It being immediately necessary for the preservation
of the public peace, health , or safety, an emergency is hereby
declared to exist, by reason whereof t his act shall take effect and
be in full force from and after its passage and approval.
59-1-572 EB 1/15/2023 1:21:46 PM