States Mandate Unpaid Leave for School Activities

​Now that schools are back in session for the fall, employees may find themselves in need of time off to attend school events or meetings for their children.

Ten states (California, Illinois, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Carolina, Rhode Island and Vermont) and Washington, D.C., require employers to provide time off for parents to attend their children’s school activities. Most of the states with school-related leave allow it to be unpaid, but some stipulate that workers can use their paid vacation days or other paid time off.

“I can’t stress enough how important it is for employers to be aware of the laws that apply in all of the states or jurisdictions where they operate. School-related leave is one issue, but many states require that certain policies be provided to employees and that state-specific posters be available,” said Robin Shea, an attorney with Constangy, Brooks, Smith & Prophete in Winston-Salem, N.C. “With our increasingly mobile and remote workforce, it is very easy for a well-meaning employer to find that it is noncompliant.”

The types of covered activities vary by state, but they may include disciplinary meetings, classroom volunteering, parent-teacher conferences, and special education meetings for a child with an individualized education program (IEP).

For example, the Illinois law provides eight hours of unpaid leave per school year for employees to attend school conferences, academic meetings or behavioral meetings…