School employees: sick leave: parental leave.

Under existing law, when a person employed in a position requiring certification qualifications exhausts all available sick leave, as specified, and continues to be absent from his or her duties on account of illness or accident for an additional period of up to 5 school months, he or she, during that additional period, receives the difference between his or her salary and the sum that is actually paid a substitute employee employed to fill his or her position during his or her absence or, if no substitute employee was employed, the amount that would have been paid to the substitute had he or she been employed. Existing law also provides the differential pay benefit described above for up to 12 school weeks if the person employed in a position requiring certification qualifications is absent on account of maternity or paternity leave. Existing law provides that the 12-week period shall be reduced by any period of sick leave, including accumulated sick leave, taken during a period of maternity or paternity leave. Existing law prohibits a person employed in a position requiring certification qualifications on maternity or paternity leave pursuant to the Moore-Brown-Roberti Family Rights Act from being denied access to differential pay while on that leave. This bill would additionally provide that if a school district maintains a rule that credits a person employed in a position requiring certification qualifications at least 100 working days of sick leave paid at no less than 50% of his or her regular salary, when he or she has exhausted all available sick leave, including all accumulated sick leave, and continues to be absent from his or her duties on account of parental leave, the person employed in a position requiring certification qualifications would be compensated at no less than 50% of his or her regular salary for the remaining portion of the 12-workweek period of parental leave. The bill would no longer require a person employed in a position requiring certification qualifications to have 1,250 hours of service with the employer during the previous 12-month period, as required by the Moore-Brown-Roberti Family Rights Act, in order to take parental leave pursuant to these provisions. The bill would require that parental leave taken pursuant to these provisions run concurrently with parental leave taken pursuant to the act, and that the aggregate amount of parental leave taken pursuant to either these provisions or under the act not exceed 12 workweeks in a 12-month period. Under existing law, when a classified school employee in certain school districts and community college districts exhausts all available sick leave, as specified, and continues to be absent from his or her duties on account of illness or accident for an additional period of up to 5 school months, the employee during that additional period receives the difference between his or her salary and the sum that is actually paid a substitute employee employed to fill his or her position during his or her absence. Under existing law, when a classified school employee in certain other school districts and community college districts exhausts all available sick leave, as specified, and continues to be absent from his or her duties on account of illness or accident for an additional period of up to 5 school months, the employee during that additional period receives at least 50% of the employee's regular salary. This bill would additionally provide the differential pay benefits described above for up to 12 workweeks if the classified school employee is absent on account of parental leave, as defined. The bill would provide that the 12-workweek period shall be reduced by any period of sick leave, including accumulated sick leave, taken during a period of parental leave. The bill would no longer require a classified employee to have 1,250 hours of service with the employer during the previous 12-month period, as required by the Moore-Brown-Roberti Family Rights Act, in order to take parental leave pursuant to these provisions. The bill would require that parental leave taken pursuant to these provisions run concurrently with parental leave taken pursuant to the act, and that the aggregate amount of parental leave taken pursuant to either these provisions or under the act not exceed 12 workweeks in a 12-month period. Under existing law, when a person employed in an academic position in a community college district exhausts all available sick leave, as specified, and continues to be absent from his or her duties on account of illness or accident for an additional period of up to 5 school months, the person employed in an academic position during that additional period receives the difference between his or her salary and the sum that is actually paid a temporary employee employed to fill his or her position during his or her absence or, if no temporary employee was employed, the amount that would have been paid to the temporary employee had he or she been employed. This bill would additionally provide the differential pay benefit described above for up to 12 workweeks if the person employed in an academic position is absent on account of parental leave, as defined, as specified. The bill would provide that the 12-workweek period shall be reduced by any period of sick leave, including accumulated sick leave, taken during a period of parental leave. The bill would additionally provide that if a community college district maintains a rule that credits a person employed in an academic position at least 100 working days of sick leave paid at no less than 50% of the employee's regular salary, when an employee has exhausted all available sick leave, including all accumulated sick leave, and continues to be absent from his or her duties on account of parental leave, the employee would be compensated at no less than 50% of the employee's regular salary for the remaining portion of the 12-workweek period of parental leave. The bill would no longer require a person employed in an academic position to have 1,250 hours of service with the employer during the previous 12-month period, as required by the Moore-Brown-Roberti Family Rights Act, in order to take parental leave pursuant to these provisions. The bill would require that parental leave taken pursuant to these provisions run concurrently with parental leave taken pursuant to the act, and that the aggregate amount of parental leave taken pursuant to either these provisions or under the act not exceed 12 workweeks in a 12-month period.