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STATE OF OKLAHOMA
1st Session of the 60th Legislature (2025)
HOUSE BILL 1601 By: Gise
AS INTRODUCED
An Act relating to schools; amending Section 1,
Chapter 291, O.S.L. 2023 (70 O.S. Supp. 2024, Section
6-104.8), which relates to paid mater nity leave;
allowing sick leave use to extend maternity leave for
certain employees; specifying uses; requiring
sufficient leave accrual; requiring notification and
concurrent use with the Family and Medical Leave Act;
and providing an effective date.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF OKLAHOMA:
SECTION 1. AMENDATORY Section 1, Chapter 291, O.S.L.
2023 (70 O.S. Supp. 2024, Section 6 -104.8), is amended to read as
follows:
Section 6-104.8. A. 1. Full-time employees of a public school
district in this state who have been employed by the school district
for at least one year and have worked at least one thousand two
hundred fifty (1,250) hours during the preceding twelve -month
period;
2. Persons employed full tim e as classroom instructional
employees of technology center school districts s upervised by the
State Board of Career and Technology Education who have been
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employed by the technology center school district for at least one
year and have worked at least one thousand two hundred fifty (1,250)
hours during the preceding twelve -month period;
3. Persons employed as teachers by the State Department of
Rehabilitation Services who have been employed by the State
Department of Rehabilitation Services for at least o ne year and have
worked at least one thousand two hundred fifty (1,250) hours during
the preceding twelve -month period;
4. Persons employed full time as correctional teachers or
vocational instructors by the Department of Corrections pursuant to
Section 510.6a of Title 57 of the Oklahoma Statutes who have been
employed by a Department of Corrections facility for at least one
year and have worked at least one thousand two hundred fifty (1,250)
hours during the preceding twelve -month period; and
5. Persons employed full time as teachers by the Office of
Juvenile Affairs who have been employed by an Office of Juvenile
Affairs facility for at least one year and have worked at least one
thousand two hundred fifty (1,250) hours during the preceding
twelve-month period,
shall be entitled to six (6) weeks of paid maternity leave following
the birth of the employee 's child. The six (6) weeks of paid
maternity leave shall be used immediately following the birth of the
school district employee 's child.
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B. 1. Paid maternity leave provided pursuant to paragraphs 1,
2, and 3 of subsection A of this section shall be in addition to and
not in place of sick leave due to pregnancy, as authorized by
Section 6-104 of Title 70 of the Oklahoma Statutes.
2. Paid maternity leav e provided pursuant to paragraph 4 of
subsection A of this section shall be in addition to and not in
place of sick leave due to pregnancy, as authorized by Section
510.6a of Title 57 of the Oklahoma Statutes.
3. Paid maternity leave provided pursuant to paragraph 5 of
subsection A of this section shall be in addition to and not in
place of sick leave due to pregnancy, as authorized by Section 2 -7-
202 of Title 10A of the Oklahoma Statutes.
C. 1. Employees described in subsection A of this section
shall have the right to utilize accrued sick leave to extend the
duration of their maternity leave beyond the six (6) weeks provided
by this section. Such sick leave may be used for recovery from
childbirth, bonding with a newborn, or caring for a newborn, and
shall not require additional approval from a school board or
employer, provided the employee has sufficient sick leave to cover
the extended duration.
2. An employee seeking to use sick leave to extend the duration
of their maternity leave shall notify the ir employer in accordance
with the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 (FMLA). FMLA leave
shall run concurrently with the paid sick leave extended duration.
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D. An employee who takes maternity leave pursuant to the
provisions of subsection A of this sect ion shall not be deprived of
any compensation or other benefits to which the e mployee is
otherwise entitled.
D. E. Each fiscal year, the Legislature shall appropriate
adequate funding to the Public School Paid Maternity Leave Revolving
Fund created in Section 7 6-104.9 of this act title for the purpose
of providing paid maternity leave to eligible school district
employees pursuant to paragraph 1 of subsection A of this section.
If the Legislature does not appropriate adequate funding
specifically for the purpose of providing paid maternity leave to
school district employees, the S tate Board of Education shall
allocate from the funds appropriated to the State Board of Education
for the support of public school activities an amount to fully fund
paid maternity leave.
E. F. The State Board of Education, the State Board of Career
and Technology Education, the Commission for Rehabilitation
Services, the State Board of Corrections, and the Board of Juvenile
Affairs may promulgate rules to implement the provisio ns of this
section.
SECTION 2. This act shall become effectiv e November 1, 2025.
60-1-11203 SW 01/06/25