Policy GARHB: Paid Parental Leave

 The Board of Education shall make paid parental leave equally available to all eligible employees of the Board of Education under the following terms:

1. An employee of the Board of Education shall be eligible for paid parental leave for qualifying life events upon satisfying the following criteria:
   1. The employee is classified as full-time by the School District and is eligible to participate in the Teachers Retirement System of Georgia or the Public School Employees’ Retirement System, if applicable; and,
   2. The employee has six (6) continuous months of employment with the Board of Education, regardless of whether he or she is eligible for paid or unpaid leave under federal law. An employee paid on an hourly basis must have worked a minimum of 700 hours over the six-month period immediately preceding the requested paid parental leave date.

2. A qualifying life event means:
   1. The birth of a child of an eligible employee;
   2. The placement of a minor child for adoption with an eligible employee; or,
   3. The placement of a minor child for foster care with an eligible employee.

3. The maximum amount of paid parental leave that may be taken by an eligible employee during a rolling 12-month period is 120 hours, regardless of the number of qualifying life events that occur during such period.
   1. The rolling 12-month period shall be measured backward from the date an eligible employee first uses parental leave.
   2. Parental leave may be taken as needed and may be taken in increments of less than eight (8) hours. The smallest increment of parental leave that may be taken is four (4) hours.
   3. Any unused paid parental leave that remains 12 months after the qualifying event shall not carry over for future use. d. Unused paid parental leave shall have no cash value at any time of the eligible employee’s separation from employment with the Board of Education.

4. Paid parental leave under state law shall run concurrently with any leave provided under federal law.

5. Eligible employees requesting paid parental leave must submit the district’s designated form to the Superintendent or designee at least thirty (30) days in advance of the requested leave start date. If such advance notice is not possible, the employee must give notice as soon as practicable, which means as soon as both possible and practical, ordinarily within one (1) or two (2) working days of learning of the need for leave. The employee will, also, provide an explanation of why the 30 days’ notice requirement was not practicable.

6. The Superintendent or designee shall develop paperwork needed to administer paid parental leave, which shall specify the documentation required to establish the existence of a qualifying life event.