An Act To Provide Paid Family Leave to Public School Employees
Maine Legislature, Session 129, LD 0462
Committee: Labor and Housing
Sponsors: PIERCE, MILLETT, DAUGHTRY, DENK, DODGE, GATTINE, KORNFIELD, MORALES
Amends: 26 MRSA §844

Legislative Document
No. 462
H.P. 346
House of Representatives, January 29, 2019
An Act To Provide Paid Family Leave to Public School Employees
Reference to the Committee on Labor and Housing suggested and ordered printed.
ROBERT B. HUNT
Clerk
Presented by Representative PIERCE of Falmouth.
Cosponsored by Senator MILLETT of Cumberland and
Representatives: DAUGHTRY of Brunswick, DENK of Kennebunk, DODGE of Belfast, 
GATTINE of Westbrook, KORNFIELD of Bangor, MORALES of South Portland.
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:
Sec. 1.  26 MRSA §844, sub-§1, as amended by PL 2007, c. 233, §2, is further 
amended to read:
1.  Family medical leave entitlement.  Every employee, other than an employee 
covered under subsection 1-A, who has been employed by the same employer for 12 
consecutive months is entitled to up to 10 work weeks of family medical leave in any 2 
years unless employed at a permanent work site with fewer than 15 employees.  The 
following conditions apply to family medical leave granted under this subchapter:
A.  The employee must give at least 30 days' notice of the intended date dates upon 
which family medical leave will commence and terminate, unless prevented by 
medical emergency from giving that notice;
B.  The employer may require certification from a physician to verify the amount of 
leave requested by the employee, except that an employee who in good faith relies on 
treatment by prayer or spiritual means, in accordance with the tenets and practice of a 
recognized church or religious denomination, may submit certification from an 
accredited practitioner of those healing methods; and
C.  The employer and employee may negotiate for more or less leave, but both parties 
must agree.
Sec. 2.  26 MRSA §844, sub-§1-A is enacted to read:
1-A.  School administrative units; paid family medical leave entitlement.  
Notwithstanding subsection 2, a full-time employee of a school administrative unit who 
has been employed by the same employer for 12 consecutive months is entitled to paid 
family medical leave for up to 12 work weeks and may not be required to use sick leave 
or other leave for the birth of the employee's child or the employee's domestic partner's 
child or for the placement of a child 16 years of age or less with the employee or the 
employee's domestic partner in connection with the adoption of the child by the employee 
or the employee's domestic partner. The following conditions apply to paid family 
medical leave granted under this subsection:
A.  The employee must give at least 30 days' notice of the intended dates upon which 
paid family medical leave will commence and terminate, unless prevented by medical 
emergency from giving that notice;
B.  The employer may require certification from a physician to verify the amount of 
leave requested by the employee;
C.  The employer and employee may negotiate for more or less leave, but both parties 
must agree; and
D.  The employer and employee may negotiate whether leave is taken intermittently 
or on a reduced leave schedule, but both parties must agree.
For purposes of this subsection, "full-time employee" means an employee who 
customarily works 30 hours or more each week.
SUMMARY
This bill provides that a full-time employee of a school administrative unit is entitled 
to up to 12 weeks of paid family medical leave and may not be required to use sick or 
other kinds of leave for the birth of the employee's child or the employee's domestic 
partner's child or for the placement of a child 16 years of age or less with the employee or 
the employee's domestic partner in connection with the adoption of the child by the 
employee or the employee's domestic partner.  The bill also provides that the employer 
and employee may negotiate whether leave is taken intermittently or on a reduced leave 
schedule.