A bill to allow state employees to spend quality time with newborns or newly adopted children without fear of financial ramifications has cruised through the Mississippi House of Representatives with unanimous support.
Lawmakers on Thursday passed House Bill 1063, dubbed the “Mississippi State Employees Paid Paternal Leave Act,” in a 114-0 vote. The bill serves to give employees who have worked with a state agency for at least one calendar year paid parental leave.
According to the legislation, eligible state employees designated as the primary or secondary caregivers of a child would be compensated for time away from the workplace. Primary caregivers would be entitled to eight weeks of time off where they are paid 100% of their salaried earnings. Secondary caregivers would have two fully paid weeks off.
“As a pro-life state, Mississippi is in a critical position to meet the needs for healthier outcomes for parents and children and to support families in our state’s workplace,” House Speaker Jason White, R-West, said. “With our fellow southern states offering some form of parental leave, and Mississippi currently offering no paid leave to their state employees, we too can reflect our commitment to the well-being of families, as well as utilize the benefit as an employee recruitment and retention tool.”
— Jason White (@JasonWhiteMS) January 30, 2025
Leave must be taken by a state worker within 12 weeks after the employee’s child is born or adopted and can only be used once every 12 months. Employees would have to give a 30-day notice before taking parental leave unless exigent circumstances arise. In that event, the notice must be given at the earliest opportunity.
Parental leave taken by public employees would not affect any other time off they accrued beforehand.
As the bill is written, public schools would not be legally required to offer paid parental leave. However, HB 1063 authorizes public school and junior college districts to adopt policies similar to the ones other agencies would be required to offer.
The legislation heads to the Senate where it will be considered. If the bill is passed and enacted into law as is, Mississippi will join states like Georgia, South Carolina, and Texas in offering paid time off for parents working state jobs.
