Parental Leave for Educators

Salem Teachers Union - April 5, 2024

What it needs to be

What it is now vs.

Current CBA & our Proposal

Status Quo

STU Proposals

Article V(12) - Teachers

Article 7.9-7.11 - PSRP

​

• 12 Weeks (60 Days) of unpaid parental leave.
• Parental leave taken concurrently with FMLA leave
• Employees my use sick days to be paid for leave.
• If 2 SPS employees, 12 weeks must be split.
• Employees may apply for extended (unpaid) parental leaves of generally up to a year, but they are dependent on approval by the employer.

Union Proposal 25

​

​

• First 12 weeks: paid leave - not sick leave, not FMLA
• Second 12 weeks: unpaid leave - may use sick leave, runs concurrently with FMLA.
• Parental leave doesn’t need to be split between SPS employees.
• Employees entitled to unpaid leave up to one year.

Revised STU Proposal

Replace article V(16): Teacher & article 7.9: PSRP with the following provision.

​

Employees, regardless of status as a birth parent or non-birth parent, shall be eligible for a parental leave of absence of up to one (1) year following the birth or adoption of a child, or the placement of a child up to the age of eighteen (18) in the home of the employee.

1. The first twelve (12) weeks of leave shall be a fully paid parental leave. This portion of leave does not need to be split between parents if both are employed by SPS.
2. The second twelve (12) weeks of leave shall be unpaid. Employees may elect to use sick leave in order to receive pay. This portion of leave shall run concurrently with FMLA leave.
3. Remaining leave shall be unpaid. The employee shall provide the employer with their anticipated date of return prior to the start of their leave, if practicable.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zIhKAQX5izw

Some Problems With Our Current System

1. Most parental leaves are taken by earlier career educators - those who are less likely to have significant accruals of sick leave.

​

• Each parental leave an employee needs to take gets progressively more difficult to fund through sick leave.

​

• Employees who both work for the district are put in an impossible situation regarding the requirement to share available leave.

​

• Employees who have difficult pregnancies, which may require the use of sick leave, have a decreased ability to fund parental leave through sick leave.

​

• Employees who have a preterm birth or whose children are born with complications are unlikely to have sufficient paid time at home to bond with their child

Some (more) Problems With Our Current System

• Employees who return to work with depleted sick leave balances are more likely to come to work sick or ignore their own medical needs.

​

• Little kids get sick - a lot - and forcing new parents to burn their sick leave accruals during parental leave is setting them up for difficulty down the road.

​

• The current system is even less sustainable for low-wage workers. The lower your wage, the less feasible it is to take even a little unpaid time.

​

• If an employee is using all available FMLA leave for parental leave, personal or family illness, medical compilations, etc. become much more difficult to deal with.

​

• 12 weeks of parental leave, even if you are able to fund it through sick leave, is simply not enough.

The Research is Clear

1. Mothers with access to paid time off after giving birth see a 51% decrease in the risk of rehospitalization, and generally see improved blood pressure, pain levels, etc.

​

• Women who take off less than 2 months after birth are more likely to deal with depression and self-esteem problems, which can last for years.

​

• Low-wage workers see better pregnancy outcomes if they have paid parental leave available.

​

• When fathers are able to take parental leave, mothers have fewer mental and physical health complications.

​

• When fathers take parental leave, the makeup of their brain literally changes leading to increased empathy.

​

The Research is Clear

• Paid parental leave is associated with the development of more mature early cognitive functioning in children.

​

• Women with access to more paid leave breastfeed more, which can boost children’s health and development.

​

• Parents’ paid leave is associated with better language and behavior skills in toddlers.

​

Many of the children who would see benefits of this change will go on to become SPS students.

​

https://www.apa.org/monitor/2022/04/feature-parental-leave

We’re Falling Behind

Enacted in 2018, the Massachusetts Paid Family & Medical Leave Act (PFML) provides private-sector employees with paid leave and employment protection benefits.

Under PFML, parental leave benefits include the following: Family leave can be taken by a parent or legal guardian to bond with a child during the first 12 months after the child’s birth, adoption, or foster care placement. Eligibility for family leave to bond with a child is limited to the child’s parents or legal guardians. As a parent or legal guardian, you can take up to 12 weeks of family leave to bond with a child per year.

This benefit, granted to workers all around us, is in some ways more extensive than what STU is proposing.

This is a huge benefit offered by most private sector employers, but is not offered by Salem Public Schools. If we are serious about cutting down on turnover, we must close this gap.

Impacts Across Industries

77% of benefited workers say amount of paid parental leave influences decisions to change jobs.

Retention

Women who take paid parental leave are 93% more likely to remain in the workforce 9-12 months after birth.

Productivity

70% of employers offering Paid Family Leave reported higher productivity.

Recruitment

77%

93%

70%

https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/deloitte-survey-less-than-half-of-people-surveyed-feel-their-organization-helps-men-feel-comfortable-taking-parental-leave-300284822.html

https://www.bcg.com/publications/2017/human-resources-people-organization-why-paid-family-leave-is-good-business

The “Halo Effect”

​

If we agree to this benefit now, it is because we know that it is the right thing to do and because we want to do right by educators.

​

If we do this three years from now, it is going to be because society and the labor market dragged us to do it.

​

Creating paid parental leave for the right reasons will help project Salem as a place where educators want to teach.

“Paid family leave is proven to help with employee recruitment, retention, morale, and productivity,” said Feroza Freeland, the policy manager of the southern office at A Better Balance, a national nonprofit advocacy group. “It has positive influences in all of those areas, and we know that many states are struggling with teacher shortages.”

Paid Parental Leave & Retention

https://www.nctq.org/blog/How-many-school-districts-offer-paid-parental-leave

Hear from STU Members

• Written Statements