What Is School Appearance and Activities Leave?
School appearance and activities leave laws protect the employment status of a parent or guardian when they are required to take time off of work in order to attend school events or activities. The state of California has important Protected Leave Laws in place that entitle employees who are also parents, guardians or caregivers to time off work for certain situations in which they must appear at a child’s school or day care, including to participate in school or child care activities, or in connection with disciplinary action by the school.
How do School Appearance and Activities Leave Laws Protect an Employee?
It is inevitable for employees to need time off work for certain personal or family reasons such as this, and in California, any employer who violates the law by terminating, demoting or otherwise discriminating or retaliating against an employee for requesting or taking job-protected school activities leave may be subject to a civil lawsuit. For more information about school appearance and activities leave, or to find out how to go about suing your employer for a leave law violation, consult our reputable employment law attorney at Davtyan Law Firm today.
Understanding Your School Appearance and Activities Leave Rights
The Family-School Partnership Act was enacted in California in 1995, and this law prohibits California employers from discriminating against or terminating employees who practice their school appearance and activities leave rights to attend school activities or appear for school disciplinary actions.
Are You Entitled to a School Appearance and Activities Leave
California employers with 25 or more employees working at the same location must allow an employee to take protected time off work to participate in activities at a child’s school or child care facility, so long as the employee provides the employer or supervisor with reasonable notice of the planned absence. Under the law, employees are permitted to take up to eight hours off per month and 40 hours off per year for school appearances or activities from kindergarten through grade 12.
School Appearance Leave
As a parent or caregiver, you may sometimes be required to appear at your child’s school in connection with disciplinary action by the school and your employer is required by law to grant you time off for reasons such as this. School appearance leave can also be used in emergency situations in which a “child care provider or school emergency” prevents a child from remaining in school or with a child care provider.
School and Child Care Activities Leave
Similarly, California employers are required to provide employees with time off work to participate in a child’s school- or child care-related activities. This may include school plays, teacher conferences, award ceremonies, counseling sessions or another type of school activity.
Employees may also require time off work to deal with enrolling their children in school or child care, or for school- or child care-related emergencies, which employers are also required by law to grant. Under the law, only eight of the 40 hours allowed for school activities leave may be used to find, enroll or re-enroll a child in school or child care.
Contact Our Experienced California Attorneys for Help
California school appearance and activities leave applies to California employees who are also a parent, guardian, foster parent, stepparent, or grandparent of a child. If you have requested time off work in California for a school appearance or activity and your employer has denied your request, or if your employer has engaged in unlawful retaliation by terminating you for requesting or taking job-protected school appearance and activities leave, you may have a claim for reinstatement and reimbursement for lost pay and benefits, among other damages.
Contact our knowledgeable employment law attorney at Davtyan Law Firm today to discuss your options for legal recourse.
