Governor Ritter Signs Legislation Mandating Unpaid Leave

On June 1, Colorado Governor Bill Ritter signed the Parental Involvement in K-12 Education Act.  The legislation requires employers to provide unpaid leave for nonsupervisory employees to attend parent-teacher conferences and other activities related to the educational advancement of their children.  The new law takes effect on August 4, and applies to employers with at least 50 workers.

The Act provides:

• Parents will be able to take no more than 18 hours of the new kind of leave during an academic year;
• Leave is limited to six hours per month;
• Leave only can be taken in increments of three hours or less;
• Parents also required to provide employers with one week's notice before taking leave, except in an emergency;
• Employers may require that employees provide written verification of the reason for leave.

The measure does not apply to businesses where such leave would endanger the health or safety of others, for example, in the medical and health care fields.

This article was written by Kristin R.B. White, Jackson Kelly PLLC.  For more information on the author see here.