AB 858

This bill allows certain employees to take leave from employment to attend

school conferences and classroom activities for the employees' children.

Under current law, an employer, including the state, employing at least 50

individuals on a permanent basis in this state (employer) must allow an employee

who has been employed by the employer for more than 52 consecutive weeks and who

has worked for the employer for at least 1,000 hours during the preceding 52-week

period (employee) to take six weeks of family leave in a 12-month period and two

weeks of medical leave in a 12-month period. Family leave may be taken for the birth

or adoptive placement of a new child or to care for a child, spouse, domestic partner,

or parent who has a serious health condition. Medical leave may be taken when the

employee has a serious health condition that makes the employee unable to perform

the employee's employment duties.

An employee is not entitled to receive wages or salary while taking family or

medical leave, but may substitute, for portions of family or medical leave, other types

of paid or unpaid leave provided by the employer. An employee who intends to take

family or medical leave for the birth or adoptive placement of a child or for planned

medical treatment must give the employer advance notice of the birth or adoptive

placement or planned medical treatment. In addition, for planned medical

treatment, the employee must make a reasonable effort to schedule the medical

treatment so that it does not unduly disrupt the operations of the employer. Also,

if an employee requests family or medical leave due to a serious health condition of

the employee or of a child, spouse, domestic partner, or parent, the employer may

require certification of that condition from a health care provider or a Christian

Science practitioner.

The bill allows an employee of an employer to take no more than 16 hours of

school conference and activities leave in a 12-month period. School conference and

activities leave may be taken to attend school conferences or classroom activities

relating to the employee's child that cannot be scheduled during nonworking hours

or to observe and monitor the child care, preschool, or prekindergarten services or

programming received by an employee's child, if that observation and monitoring

cannot be scheduled during nonworking hours. School conference and activities

leave, however, may not be taken for the purpose of accompanying an outing or field

trip of a school or nonprofit organization.

An employee is not entitled to receive wages or salary while taking school

conference and activities leave, but may substitute, for portions of that leave, other

types of paid or unpaid leave provided by the employer, except that an employee may

not substitute paid leave for that leave for attending a school conference or activity

for less than one hour. An employee who intends to take leave to attend a school

conference or activity must give the employer advance notice of the conference or

activity and must make a reasonable effort to schedule the conference or activity so