Employers, Be Ready for Time Off Requests for School Activities

Quick Hits

• Eleven states and Washington, D.C., require employers to give time off for parents to attend certain school activities for their children.
• Employees can take leave under the FMLA to attend a meeting about their child’s individualized education program (IEP).
• Employers could be liable if they allow software applications or GPS-enabled attendance trackers to penalize workers for taking legally protected leave.

California, Illinois, Indiana, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Carolina, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Washington, D.C., have laws mandating time off for school activities.

These laws vary in scope and application, potentially making legal compliance complicated for multistate employers. For example, Rhode Island requires employers with at least fifty employees to provide eligible employees with ten hours of unpaid leave per year to attend school conferences or other school activities for their child, foster child, or legal ward. A new law in Indiana requires employers with at least one employee to provide unpaid leave for employees to attend an attendance conference or case conference for their child, foster child, or stepchild, but it does not specify a certain number of hours. In Massachusetts, employees who qualify for Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) leave can use the Small Necessities Leave Act not only for their children but also for an elderly relative’s medical appointment or appointments related to elder care. For remote employees, the state laws where the employee is performing work generally apply.

Under the FMLA, covered employees are entitled to unpaid time off to attend a school meeting to discuss their child’s individualized education plan (IEP). School-aged children may receive an IEP if they have a disability, such as dyslexia, autism, speech impairment, or hearing impairment.

For employers that use geofenced mobile apps, biometric scanners, or other digital technologies for attendance verification, it may be necessary to program these technologies so that employees are not penalized for taking legally protected leave. Ensuring that there is a manual way for an employee or an HR representative to correct or adjust a time entry may help to prevent penalties for taking legally protected leave.

Next Steps

Employers may wish to review and update their attendance policies and time off policies to ensure compliance with local, state, and federal laws regarding leave for school activities. Executing decisions about attendance penalties and leave for school activities in a fair and consistent manner may help to reduce the risk of discrimination lawsuits based on gender, disability, or other protected characteristics.

Ogletree Deakins’ Leaves of Absence/Reasonable Accommodation Practice Group will continue to monitor developments and will post updates on the Leaves of Absence blog as additional information becomes available.

In addition, the Ogletree Deakins Client Portal provides subscribers with timely updates on state leave laws on school activity and visitation. Premium-level subscribers have access to comprehensive law summaries; Snapshots and Updates are complimentary for all registered client users. For more information on the Client Portal or a Client Portal subscription, please email clientportal@ogletree.com.

Tina M. Bengs is a shareholder in Ogletree Deakins’ Chicago office.

Lisa Stephanian Burton is a shareholder in Ogletree Deakins’ Boston office.

This article was co-authored by Leah J. Shepherd, who is a writer in Ogletree Deakins’ Washington, D.C., office.

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