Family School Partnership Act: Employee Relations Bulletin 19

COUNTY OF SAN MATEO

HUMAN RESOURCES DEPARTMENT

Inter-Departmental Correspondence

DATE:	August 2018
TO:	All Management Employees
FROM:	Nicole McKay, Employee & Labor Relations Manager
SUBJECT:	Employee Relations Bulletin 19 Family School Partnership Act

This act allows an employee who is a parent[1] with children in a licensed day care facility or in Kindergarten through 12th grade to take up to 40 hours a year for the purpose of either of the following child related activities:

To find, enroll, or reenroll their child in a school or with a licensed child care provider, or to participate in activities of the school or child care provider. Employees seeking leave for this reason must provide reasonable notice to the employer and the employer is only required to provide up to 8 hours of time off in any given calendar month. Additionally, employers are allowed to request that the employee provide written proof from the school verifying that the employee participated in school activities on the specified date and time.
To address a child care provider or school emergency[2], provided the employee gives notice to the employer.

Employees using leave pursuant to the Family School Partnership Act shall first utilize any accrued vacation, holiday or compensatory time before going into an unpaid status.

If you have any questions, please contact your Employee Relations Analyst.

[1] “Parent” means a parent, guardian, stepparent, foster parent, or grandparent of, or a person who stands in loco parentis to, a child.

[2] “Child care provider or school emergency” means that an employee’s child cannot remain in a school or with a child care provider due to one of the following:

The school or child care provider has requested that the child be picked up, or has an attendance policy, excluding planned holidays, that prohibits the child from attending or requires the child to be picked up from the school or child care provider.
Behavioral or discipline problems.

Closure or unexpected unavailability of the school or child care provider, excluding planned holidays.

A natural disaster, including, but not limited to, fire, earthquake, or flood.