New paid parental leave rules are coming for NC teachers. Here’s what to know.
Proposed new state rules lay out how teachers and other North Carolina public school employees can take up to two months of paid parental leave after having a baby.
The state’s new law limiting abortions also included a paid parental leave option for state employees, including those who work in public schools, the UNC System and community colleges. State lawmakers provided $10 million to help cover the cost of hiring substitute teachers.
The State Board of Education reviewed draft rules on Thursday that would put the new law, which went effect July 1, into practice. School districts have been pressing for information on how to apply the law.
“There are a lot of unanswered questions that have been posed to us already and we’re still working through those and we will continue to do that as we get them and we’re going to have to deal with them,” said Allison Schafer, general counsel to the state board. “What we have before you right now doesn’t cover every possible scenario.”.
The state board will vote on the rules and changes to state policies in August.
Draft parental leave rules for public schools
The state board is required to adopt rules that are substantially similar to what will be adopted for state employees by the state Human Resources Commission.
Under the state board’s draft rules, which will be modified to take into changes made in a technical corrections bill:
▪ Full-time school employees can take up to eight weeks of parental leave after giving birth to a child. Part-time employees can take up to four weeks of paid parental leave.
▪ Full-time school employees can take up to four weeks of parental leave after adopting a child, receiving a foster child or becoming the legal guardian of a child. Part-time employees can take up to two weeks of paid parental leave.
▪ The paid parental leave can’t be deducted from sick, vacation or other accrued leave. But it can run concurrent to leave they’re entitled under the Family Medical Leave Act, provided the employee provides notice ahead of time.
▪ The leave would only be available to an employee once in a 12-month period.
▪ Employees are required to give their employee advance notice, when possible.
“This is a huge boon for employees ...,” Schafer told the state board. “But we’ve had lots of questions from the field.”
Charter schools exempted from parental leave
The rules will cover employees in school districts, laboratory schools, regional schools and participating charter schools.
Schafer said some charter schools were concerned the new abortion law didn’t include a parental leave exemption for them. This led to a section in the technical corrections bill that became law last week that says charter schools are exempt unless they choose to provide paid parental leave..
Schafer said the rules will also be modified to also reflect any changes that the state Human Resources Commission makes about providing leave after stillbirths and miscarriages.
Leave only for kids born after July 1
The law applies to requests for paid parental leave related to births occurring on or after July 1, 2023. Schafer said the state Department of Public Instruction asked lawmakers how that language applies to adopted and foster-care children.
“The General Assembly meant for it to apply to only children born after July 1, 2023,” Schafer said. “What you’re going to see is folks whose adoptions are finalized for a child who was born before July 1, and this would not be applicable to them.”
Tom Tomberlin, senior director of DPI’s Office of Education Preparation and Teacher Licensure, said it will need to be communicated to employees that the birth of the child and not the placement with the family is what triggers the paid parental leave.
“It will inevitably cause some angst among some of our employees if they adopt a child on Aug. 1 but the child was born in June,” Tomberlin said. “They would not be eligible for this leave”
Under the proposed rules and policy, employees must work in a public school unit for at least 12 months before they’re eligible for the paid leave. Tomberlin said it will need to be communicated to employees that if they change school districts they’re not eligible for the leave until they’ve spent a year with the new district.
This story was originally published July 6, 2023 at 2:23 PM.
