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Park County staff to clarify handbook FMLA language; commissioners consider paid parental leave as budget item
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Summary
Staff told commissioners the county handbook contains conflicting language about FMLA leave and recommended removing a 'must' clause so employees may choose to use annual leave concurrently; commissioners also discussed, without deciding, the possibility of adding paid parental leave and noted it would be a budget decision.
A county staff member reported to the Park County Commission on Feb. 12 that the personnel handbook contains conflicting statements about Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) leave and the use of annual leave.
“In our current handbook, there's conflicting statements on FMLA… one paragraph says they may use annual leave concurrent with it, and the other paragraph says they must use annual leave,” the staff member said, noting federal statute does not require employees to use annual leave during FMLA. The presenter said they plan to remove the 'must' language so employees can choose whether to use annual leave while on FMLA.
Commissioners discussed the idea of paid parental leave as a retention incentive; the staff presenter cited neighboring jurisdictions as examples — Gallatin County allows six weeks of paid parental leave for adoption or birth and the City of Bozeman allows eight weeks, with use limited to an initial months window. Commissioners noted there is no state requirement to offer paid parental leave and said any new paid-leave policy would require budget discussion.
Next steps: staff will revise handbook language to align with federal FMLA rules and may bring paid parental-leave proposals to the budget process for further consideration. No formal policy change was adopted at the Feb. 12 meeting.
