Bill Text: CT HB06501 | 2013 | General Assembly | Comm Sub
Bill Title: An Act Concerning Parental Engagement.
Spectrum: Slight Partisan Bill (Democrat 3-1)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2013-04-03 - Referred by House to Committee on Appropriations [HB06501 Detail]
Download: Connecticut-2013-HB06501-Comm_Sub.html
General Assembly |
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January Session, 2013 |
*_____HB06501KID___031213____* |
AN ACT CONCERNING PARENTAL ENGAGEMENT.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Assembly convened:
Section 1. (NEW) (Effective January 1, 2014) (a) For the purposes of this section and section 2 of this act:
(1) "Employer" means any person who directly or indirectly owns, operates or has a controlling interest in an activity, enterprise or business employing ten or more employees as determined on July first annually;
(2) "Employee" means any individual engaged in service to an employer in the business of the employer;
(3) "Eligible employee" means an employee who is a parent, guardian or grandparent having custody of one or more children in kindergarten to grade twelve, inclusive, or one or more children attending a facility providing child day care services, as defined in section 19a-77 of the general statutes;
(4) "Parental leave" means an employer-approved absence from work for the purpose of attending a qualified school-related activity;
(5) "Spouse" means a husband or wife, as the case may be;
(6) "School" means a public or private school providing instruction to students in kindergarten to grade twelve, inclusive, or a facility providing child day care services, as defined in section 19a-77 of the general statutes;
(7) "School year" means the twelve months ending on June thirtieth of each year; and
(8) "Qualified school-related activity" means a school-related activity or event organized to include parental involvement, including, but not limited to: (A) A parent-teacher conference, a back-to-school night or a curriculum night involving an eligible employee's child; (B) a meeting of a school governance council organized pursuant to section 10-223j of the general statutes, a turnaround committee organized pursuant to section 10-223h of the general statutes or any other school or district sanctioned advisory body that serves the educational interests of an eligible employee's child; (C) a planning and placement team meeting; and (D) a school visit to attend to the immediate needs or well-being of an eligible employee's child, a meeting with teaching staff or pupil personnel staff or a school-sponsored meeting that involves the educational interests of an eligible employee's child. "Qualified school-related activity" does not include any extracurricular activity, including, but not limited to, a sporting event, musical or dramatic performance or field trip.
(b) (1) Subject to the provisions of this section and section 2 of this act, beginning July 1, 2014, and each July first thereafter, an employer shall grant an eligible employee eight hours of parental leave during a school year to participate in qualified school-related activities.
(2) Nothing in this section shall be construed to preclude an employer from granting more than eight hours of parental leave at such employer's discretion or subject to the employee's collective bargaining agreements.
(3) An eligible employee shall utilize existing vacation, personal leave, compensatory time off or unpaid leave for purposes of the parental leave authorized by this section, unless otherwise provided by a collective bargaining agreement entered into before the effective date of this section. The entitlement of any eligible employee under this section shall not be diminished by any collective bargaining agreement term or condition that is agreed to on or after the effective date of this section.
(4) Notwithstanding subdivision (3) of this subsection, in the event that all permanent, full-time employees of an employer are accorded vacation during the same period of time in a calendar year, an eligible employee of that employer may not utilize that accrued vacation benefit at any other time for purposes of the parental leave authorized by this section.
(5) If requested by an employer, an eligible employee shall provide documentation that he or she used or plans to use parental leave to participate in a qualified school-related activity on a specific date and at a particular time. For purposes of this subdivision, "documentation" means whatever written verification of parental participation the school deems appropriate and reasonable.
(6) If an individual and his or her spouse are employed by the same employer and both are eligible employees, such employer may grant parental leave to only one of such eligible employees and may limit the total leave for both such eligible employees to eight hours.
(7) An employer may require an eligible employee to take a minimum of two hours of parental leave per qualified school-related activity.
(c) The Labor Department shall enforce compliance with the provisions of this section.
Sec. 2. (NEW) (Effective January 1, 2014) (a) (1) No employer shall interfere with, restrain or deny the exercise of, or the attempt to exercise, any right provided under section 1 of this act.
(2) No employer shall discharge or cause to be discharged, or in any other manner discriminate against, any employee for opposing any practice made unlawful by subdivision (1) of this subsection or because such employee has exercised the rights afforded to such employee under section 1 of this act.
(b) No person shall discharge or discipline or cause to be discharged or disciplined, or in any other manner discriminate, intimidate or make threats against any individual because such individual: (1) Has filed any charge, or has instituted or caused to be instituted any proceeding, under or related to section 1 of this act; (2) has given, or is about to give, any information in connection with any inquiry or proceeding relating to any right provided under section 1 of this act; or (3) has testified, or is about to testify, in any inquiry or proceeding relating to any right provided under section 1 of this act.
(c) (1) No employer shall deny a qualified employee his or her right to use up to eight hours of parental leave or, if such employee and his or her spouse are employed by the same employer as described in subdivision (6) of subsection (b) of section 1 of this act, up to eight hours total of parental leave, for qualified school-related activities or to discharge, threaten to discharge, demote, suspend or in any manner discriminate against an employee for using or attempting to use such parental leave to attend to a qualified school-related activity.
(2) Any employee aggrieved by a violation of this subsection may file a complaint with the Labor Commissioner alleging violation of the provisions of subdivision (1) of this subsection. Upon receipt of any such complaint, the commissioner shall hold a hearing. After the hearing, the commissioner shall send each party a written copy of the commissioner's decision. The commissioner may award the employee all appropriate relief, including rehiring or reinstatement to the employee's previous job, payment of back wages and reestablishment of employee benefits to which the employee otherwise would have been eligible if a violation of subdivision (1) of this subsection had not occurred. Any party aggrieved by the decision of the commissioner may appeal the decision to the Superior Court in accordance with the provisions of chapter 54 of the general statutes.
(3) The rights and remedies specified in this subsection are cumulative and nonexclusive and are in addition to any other rights or remedies afforded by contract or under other provisions of law.
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following sections: | ||
Section 1 |
January 1, 2014 |
New section |
Sec. 2 |
January 1, 2014 |
New section |
Statement of Legislative Commissioners:
In section 1(a)(6), "child care services" was changed to "child day care services" for accuracy and consistency; in section 1(b)(6), "both" was added and "total" was removed for clarity; in section 2(a)(2), "individual" was changed to "employee" for clarity and consistency; in section 2(c)(1), "or, if such employee and his or her spouse are employed by the same employer as described in subdivision (6) of subsection (b) of section 1 of this act, up to eight hours total of parental leave," was added for clarity and accuracy; and technical revisions were made for clarity and consistency.
KID |
Joint Favorable Subst. |