00                             HOUSE BILL NO. 315                                                                          
01 "An Act allowing certain teachers, public employees, and private sector employees to                                    
02 take leave without pay for parent-teacher conferences."                                                                 
03 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA:                                                                
04    * Section 1. AS 14.20.348 is amended by adding a new section to read:                                              
05            Sec. 14.20.348. Leave without pay for parent-teacher conferences. (a)                                      
06       Notwithstanding AS 14.20.345(a), a teacher who is a parent may take leave without                                 
07       pay one or two times each calendar year, not to exceed a combined total of four hours                             
08       each calendar year, to attend a parent-teacher conference for a child of that teacher.                            
09            (b)  A teacher shall request leave under (a) of this section a reasonable amount                             
10       of time in advance and may not take the leave without approval by the employer. An                                
11       employer may deny the request only if the timing of the leave would unreasonably                                  
12       interfere with the employer by                                                                                    
13                 (1)  creating or increasing a risk to human safety; or                                                  
14                 (2)  increasing the employer's costs by more than a nominal amount.                                     
01            (c)  The right to leave under (a) of this section is in addition to any other legal                          
02       or contractual right to leave that the employee may have.                                                         
03            (d)  In this section,                                                                                        
04                 (1)  "child" means a minor, four years of age or older, who is not                                      
05       emancipated;                                                                                                      
06                 (2)  "domestic partner" means a person who is cohabiting with another                                   
07       person in a relationship that is like a marriage but that is not a legal marriage;                                
08                 (3)  "parent" means                                                                                     
09                      (A)  a person who is the child's biological or adoptive parent,                                    
10            whose parental rights have not been terminated, or a spouse or domestic                                      
11            partner of that person who is residing in the same household;                                                
12                      (B)  a person, including a guardian, who is appointed by the                                       
13            court to act on behalf of the child in matters that include the child's education;                           
14                      (C)  for a child not living with the child's biological or adoptive                                
15            parent, the child's grandparent, aunt, uncle, sister, or brother who has reached                             
16            the age of majority and with whom the child lives; or                                                        
17                      (D)  the child's surrogate parent who has been appointed under                                     
18            AS 14.30.325;                                                                                                
19                 (4)  "parent-teacher conference" means a meeting that the parent of a                                   
20       child and a teacher or caregiver of a child agree to have for the purpose of discussing                           
21       the child's progress and development in preschool or school;                                                      
22                 (5)  "teacher or caregiver" means an individual, other than a child's                                   
23       parent, who has primary responsibility to plan, instruct, and evaluate the education of                           
24       the child in a public or private preschool, elementary, junior high, or secondary school                          
25       classroom or similar setting.                                                                                     
26    * Sec. 2. AS 23.10.105 is amended to read:                                                                         
27            Sec. 23.10.105. Posting summary required. An employer subject to                                           
28       AS 23.10.050 - 23.10.150 or 23.10.435 shall keep a summary or abstract of the                             
29       applicable [THESE] sections, approved by the commissioner, posted in a conspicuous                            
30       location at the place where a person subject to them is employed. An employer shall                               
31       be furnished copies of a summary by the state on request without charge.                                          
01    * Sec. 3. AS 23.10 is amended by adding a new section to article 7 to read:                                      
02            Sec. 23.10.435. Leave without pay for parent-teacher conferences. (a) This                                 
03       section applies to every person, other than the federal or state government or the                                
04       government of a political subdivision of the state, that employs full-time, part-time, or                         
05       temporary employees who are compensated under an express or implied contract of                                   
06       hire that is oral or written.                                                                                     
07            (b)  An employee of an employer under (a) of this section may take, and the                                  
08       employee's employer shall grant, leave without pay one or two times each calendar                                 
09       year, not to exceed a combined total of four hours each calendar year, to attend a                                
10       parent-teacher conference for the employee's child.                                                               
11            (c)  An employee shall request leave under (b) of this section a reasonable                                  
12       amount of time in advance and may not take the leave without approval by the                                      
13       employer. An employer may deny the request only if the timing of the leave would                                  
14       unreasonably interfere with the employer by                                                                       
15                 (1)  creating or increasing a risk to human safety; or                                                  
16                 (2)  increasing the employer's costs by more than a nominal amount.                                     
17            (d)  The right to leave under (b) of this section is in addition to any other legal                          
18       or contractual right to leave that the employee may have.                                                         
19            (e)  In this section,                                                                                        
20                 (1)  "child" means a minor, four years or age or older, who is not                                      
21       emancipated;                                                                                                      
22                 (2)  "domestic partner" means a person who is cohabiting with another                                   
23       person in a relationship that is like a marriage but that is not a legal marriage;                                
24                 (3)  "parent" means                                                                                     
25                      (A)  a person who is the child's biological or adoptive parent,                                    
26            whose parental rights have not been terminated, or a spouse or domestic                                      
27            partner of that person who is residing in the same household;                                                
28                      (B)  a person, including a guardian, who is appointed by the                                       
29            court to act on behalf of the child in matters that include the child's education;                           
30                      (C)  for a child not living with the child's biological or adoptive                                
31            parent, the child's grandparent, aunt, uncle, sister, or brother who has reached                             
01            the age of majority and with whom the child lives; or                                                        
02                      (D)  the child's surrogate parent who has been appointed under                                     
03            AS 14.30.325;                                                                                                
04                 (4)  "parent-teacher conference" means a meeting that the parent of a                                   
05       child and a teacher or caregiver of a child agree to have for the purpose of discussing                           
06       the child's progress and development in preschool or school;                                                      
07                 (5)  "teacher or caregiver" means an individual, other than a child's                                   
08       parent, who has primary responsibility to plan, instruct, and evaluate the education of                           
09       the child in a public or private preschool, elementary, junior high, or secondary school                          
10       classroom or similar setting.                                                                                     
11    * Sec. 4. AS 39.20 is amended by adding a new section to read:                                                     
12            Sec. 39.20.285. Leave without pay for parent-teacher conferences. (a) This                                 
13       section applies to every paid employee of                                                                         
14                 (1)  the executive, judicial, or legislative branch of state government, a                              
15       state public corporation or council established by law, or the University of Alaska,                              
16       regardless of whether the employee is a permanent, nonpermanent, or temporary                                     
17       employee, but does not apply to an employee of the Alaska Railroad Corporation;                                   
18                 (2)  a political subdivision of the state.                                                              
19            (b)  An employee of an employer under (a) of this section may take, and the                                  
20       employee's employer shall grant, leave without pay one or two times each calendar                                 
21       year, not to exceed a combined total of four hours each calendar year, to attend a                                
22       parent-teacher conference for the employee's child.                                                               
23            (c)  An employee shall request leave under (b) of this section a reasonable                                  
24       amount of time in advance and may not take the leave without approval by the                                      
25       employer. An employer may deny the request only if the timing of the leave would                                  
26       unreasonably interfere with the employer by                                                                       
27                 (1)  creating or increasing a risk to human safety; or                                                  
28                 (2)  increasing the employer's costs by more than a nominal amount.                                     
29            (d)  The right to leave under (b) of this section is in addition to any other legal                          
30       or contractual right to leave that the employee may have.                                                         
31            (e)  The director of personnel in the Department of Administration shall adopt                               
01       regulations to implement this section as it applies to employees described in (a)(1) of                           
02       this section.                                                                                                     
03            (f)  In this section,                                                                                        
04                 (1)  "child" means a minor, four years of age or older, who is not                                      
05       emancipated;                                                                                                      
06                 (2)  "domestic partner" means a person who is cohabiting with another                                   
07       person in a relationship that is like a marriage but that is not a legal marriage;                                
08                 (3)  "parent" means                                                                                     
09                      (A)  a person who is the child's biological or adoptive parent,                                    
10            whose parental rights have not been terminated, or a spouse or domestic                                      
11            partner of that person who is residing in the same household;                                                
12                      (B)  a person, including a guardian, who is appointed by the                                       
13            court to act on behalf of the child in matters that include the child's education;                           
14                      (C)  for a child not living with the child's biological or adoptive                                
15            parent, the child's grandparent, aunt, uncle, sister, or brother who has reached                             
16            the age of majority and with whom the child lives; or                                                        
17                      (D)  the child's surrogate parent who has been appointed under                                     
18            AS 14.30.325;                                                                                                
19                 (4)  "parent-teacher conference" means a meeting that the parent of a                                   
20       child and a teacher or caregiver of a child agree to have for the purpose of discussing                           
21       the child's progress and development in preschool or school;                                                      
22                 (5)  "teacher or caregiver" means an individual, other than a child's                                   
23       parent, who has primary responsibility to plan, instruct, and evaluate the education of                           
24       the child in a public or private preschool, elementary, junior high, or secondary school                          
25       classroom or similar setting.                                                                                     
26    * Sec. 5. AS 39.20.310 is amended to read:                                                                         
27            Sec. 39.20.310. Exceptions. Except as provided in AS 39.20.275 and                                     
28       39.20.285, AS 39.20.200 - 39.20.330 do not apply to                                                           
29                 (1)  members of the state legislature, the governor, the lieutenant                                     
30       governor, and justices and judges of the supreme and superior courts and of the court                             
31       of appeals, but nothing in AS 39.20.200 - 39.20.330 may be construed to diminish the                              
01       salaries fixed by law for these officers by reason of absence from duty on account of                             
02       illness or otherwise;                                                                                             
03                 (2)  magistrates serving the state on less than a full-time basis;                                      
04                 (3)  officers, members of the teaching staff, and employees of the                                      
05       University of Alaska;                                                                                             
06                 (4)  persons employed in a professional capacity to make a temporary                                    
07       and special inquiry, study, or examination as authorized by the governor, the                                     
08       legislature, or a legislative committee;                                                                          
09                 (5)  members of boards, commissions, and authorities who are not                                        
10       otherwise employed by the state;                                                                                  
11                 (6)  temporary employees hired for periods of less than 12 consecutive                                  
12       months;                                                                                                           
13                 (7)  persons employed by the division of marine transportation as                                       
14       masters and members of the crews operating the state ferry system who are covered by                              
15       collective bargaining agreements as provided in AS 23.40.040, except as expressly                                 
16       provided by law;                                                                                                  
17                 (8)  persons employed by the state who are covered by collective                                        
18       bargaining agreements as provided in AS 23.40.210, except as expressly provided by                                
19       law.