Question: Many of my staff members have children who went back to school this month. What are my legal obligations as an employer if an employee wants to take time off to go to their child’s school?
Answer: It depends on the size of the company and the reason for the employee’s request.
In California, employers who employ 25 or more employees at the same location must allow eligible employees to take up to 40 hours of unpaid leave each year for “child-related activities.”
An employee is eligible for leave for “child-related activities” if he or she is a parent, guardian, stepparent, foster parent, grandparent, or person who stands in place of a parent, to a child or children of kindergarten age or grades 1 to 12. If both parents are employed by the same employer at the same location, only the parent who first gave notice to the employer is entitled to take leave, but the other parent may also take leave with the employer’s approval.
Employees may take leave to attend school-related activities such as finding, enrolling, or reenrolling the child in a school or with a licensed child care provider, or participating in activities of the school or licensed child care provider. Employees may also take leave to address a child care provider or school emergency. An “emergency” means that the employee’s child cannot remain in a school or with a child care provider because of any of the following: the school or child care provider has requested that the child be picked up or has an attendance policy that prohibits the child from attending or requires that the child be picked up; behavioral or discipline problems; unexpected closure or unavailability of the school or child care provider; or a natural disaster such as a fire, earthquake, or flood.
For planned absences, such as participating in school activities, employees must provide the employer with reasonable notice prior to the absence. Time off for planned absences must not exceed eight hours in any calendar month.
For absences related to a school emergency, employees must give notice as soon as possible.
Employees, if requested by the employer, must provide documentation from the school or child care provider as proof that the employee engaged in child-related activities. The documentation should be whatever written verification the school or child care provider deems appropriate and reasonable and must include the specific date and time of the activity.
Employees must use existing vacation, personal leave, or paid time off to participate in school-related leave unless otherwise provided by a collective bargaining agreement. However, the employee may also use unpaid time off for these absences.
In addition to allowing leave for school-related activities and emergencies, all employers—regardless of size—may need to provide unpaid time off to employees who need to attend a child’s suspension or expulsion meeting or to comply with a school’s suspension or expulsion requirements. Employees who take leave for these reasons must give their employer reasonable notice for the absence.
Finally, employees may be entitled to leave to care for a child’s illness or injury under California’s Healthy Workplace, Healthy Family Act, which allows employees to use their amount of accrued and available sick leave to care for a family member, including a sick child, stepchild, foster child, or child whom the employee stands in place of a parent.
Employers should contact their labor counsel if they have questions about leaves of absence related to school activities and appearances.