State of Mississippi employees who are parents could get paid parental leave within 12 weeks of a child’s birth or adoption under a bill the Mississippi House passed on Thursday, Jan. 30. Like other legislation, it would need to earn approval in the Senate as well and a signature from the governor to become law.
Mississippi currently does not have a paid parental leave policy for state employees. Rep. Kevin Felsher, R-Biloxi, said Mississippi would join 38 other states that have paid parental leave policies if the bill becomes law.
“The Parental Leave Act will bring us in line with these states and serve as a retention and recruiting tool for Mississippi while placing additional value on children and family for our state employees in a post-Roe era,” he said on the House floor on Jan. 30. Mississippi successfully challenged and the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022, ending federal abortion rights and allowing the state to implement a near-total abortion ban.
House Bill 1063 designates eight weeks of paid parental leave for primary caregivers and two weeks for secondary caregivers with full pay during their absence. To qualify for leave, the bill says the employee must have been working full-time at their job for 12 months.
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The bill defines a primary caregiver as “the parent who has the primary responsibility for the care of the child following the birth or adoption of a child” and a secondary caregiver as “the parent who has secondary responsibility for the care of a child following the birth or adoption of a child.”
A state employee could only take paid parental leave one time in 12 months. If a worker also received leave under the Federal Family and Medical Leave Act, their state parental leave would run concurrently with FMLA. After taking their leave, state employees could use up to six months of earned major medical leave for the birth of their child.
The state employee requesting paid parental leave would have to