The hours a parent may take off from work to attend school functions would be tripled under a measure Democrats in the Illinois Senate approved on a near party-line vote March 2. The measure now goes to the House.

Co-sponsored by state Sen. Iris Martinez, D-20th, Senate Bill 6, makes two changes to the School Visitation Rights Act, originally passed in 1992. One amendment would increase to 24 hours from the current eight the time a parent may take in unpaid leave during the school year to attend school conferences and classroom activities.

The measure also would allow the employee to use the 24 hours without having expended all available vacation time. Under the current law, the employee must first use all vacation time before the employer is required to grant the leave.

"Anything that gives parents more time to be involved in their children's school and education is a wonderful thing and we need to be doing more of it," said Rhonda Present, founder and director of ParentsWork, an Evanston-based grassroots organization advocating for more family-friendly workplaces.

Allowing parents to take time off for school events without counting against their vacation time is a positive change, she said. "Many parents still don't get much vacation time, or if they do, they have to save it up to use during all of these school holidays as well as their kids' spring vacation and summer break," said Present. "Our schools are still structured as if this was the 1950s and there was a full-time homemaker in every home."

The Illinois Chamber of Commerce opposes the bill, saying the legislation would lead to employers cutting back personal days.

"Right now the vast majority (of employers) grant personal days, used any way an employee wants. But as the legislature mandates more and more for special reasons, employers are going to cut back on personal days that are at the employee's discretion," said Todd Maisch, vice president of government affairs for the chamber.

back