A new piece of Massachusetts
legislation similar to Maternity Leave was signed into law in earlier this
month. The new “Parental Leave Act” will become effective on April 7, 2015 and
will allow both males AND females
who work for a company with more than 6 employees to take an 8 week
job-protected leave for the birth, adoption, or placement by a court order of a
child.
This time off can be paid or
unpaid depending on the employer’s policies and must be available to utilize after
the employee has been employed at the company for 90 days. If feasible, the employee
should inform their employer at least two weeks in advance of their intended
parental leave.
However, in the event that
the mother and father both work for the same company, the employees would have 8
weeks to split between each other.
Employees must be informed
of the addition of this act to their company’s leave policies. This can be done
via a written notice or by a posting an announcement in a common work area. If
you need help developing a notice or adjusting your employee handbooks, please
feel free to contact Ipswich Bay Advisors.
