By William Thornton
A bipartisan group of Alabama state senators has filed a bill that would give education employees 12 weeks of paid parental leave. If the bill is passed, educators could take parental leave in the event of the birth, adoption, miscarriage or stillbirth of a child.
That would be a big step forward according to the state’s largest teacher organization. Alabama currently does not offer teachers or state employees any paid parental leave. Policymakers say paid parental leave can offer a big boost to employee retention and morale.
“We’ve been working on this for years,” Alabama Education Association Executive Director Amy Marlowe said. “It’s one of the saddest things.”
Education employees must build up a bank of sick leave days or take unpaid leave to care for a newborn or adopted child. Public school teachers generally are given 10 sick days each year.
“It’s usually our newer teachers who are wanting to start a family,” Marlowe said, “and they don’t have the accumulated sick leave. So that means they have to take unpaid leave.”
Not only do teachers not get paid, but in order to keep their health insurance, currently teachers have to pay the full amount of the premium. “They’ve got to write those checks,” Marlowe said, “which are upwards of $1,000, to PEEHIP (the public employees’ health insurance plan).”
SB305 would require employers to pay their portion of health insurance premiums during an employee’s parental leave. However, the bill would allow the employer to recover the cost of those health care premiums if an employee does not return to work after taking parental leave or leaves the employer within two years.
Paid parental leave for educators differs among states, and is offered in some of the nation’s largest school districts. Georgia and Tennessee recently passed laws giving educators paid parental leave, though the number of days and eligibility differs Alabama’s proposed bill.
Under the bill, employers would have to give the employee the same or an equivalent position upon returning from leave.
The leave would have to be taken within 12 months of a new child’s addition or it would be forfeited. The entire leave would have to be taken in a block unless the employer agrees to allow the employee to do otherwise.
If approved, the law becomes effective Jan. 1, 2025. The bill has been assigned to the Senate Finance and Taxation Committee, which is in charge of all education budget-related decisions, but has not been placed on a published agenda. No estimated cost has been provided.
A House bill giving state employees up to eight weeks of parental leave has passed that chamber and is heading to a Senate committee. State employees are currently required to use sick leave and personal days for parental leave but are given two weeks of paid leave in the case of adoption. The House bill, if approved, would become effective immediately after passage.
The House bill, HB309, does not give state employees any leave for miscarriage or stillbirth of a child and would only allow leave for adoption if the child is three years old or younger.
