Expansion of Unpaid Parental and Family Leave Goes into Effect on July 1, 2025
On May 22, 2025, Governor Scott signed Act 32 into law, titled An Act Relating to Expanding Employee Access to Unpaid Leave. Act 32 aims to align Vermont’s family leave policies with inclusive and equitable standards to ensure that LGBTQ+ Vermonters, low-income workers, and individuals in nontraditional family structures have equal access to caregiving benefits.
Vermont’s parental and family leave law (“VPFL”) provides an eligible employee with the right to take up to twelve weeks of unpaid leave during any twelve-month period. Prior to enactment of Act 32, parental leave could be taken for pregnancy, birth, and/or adoption. Family leave could be taken for the serious health condition of the employee or their child, parent, spouse, or parents of the employee’s spouse.
Act 32 expands the definition of family members, provides for leave if the employee or their family member are victims of certain crimes, specifies rules around bereavement leave, broadens qualifiers for parental leave, and adds events related to active duty in the military as qualifiers for leave. It is important to note, however, that the length of guaranteed unpaid leave has not expanded the existing twelve-week limit in any twelve-month period.
What employers are covered under Act 32?
For the purposes of parental leave, bereavement leave, safe leave, and leave for a qualifying exigency, covered employers are those that employ ten or more individuals who work for an average of at least thirty hours per week during a year. For purposes of family leave, an employer is one that employs fifteen or more individuals for an average of at least thirty hours per week during a year.
What definitions have changed by Act 32?
The law has added the following terms and modified existing definitions to the VPFL:
Bereavement leave can be used after the death of an employee’s family member. The leave must be taken within a year after their death. This leave also includes time used related to the administration or settlement of the deceased’s estate.
Domestic partners are now included as a “family member” under the law and defined as an individual with whom the employee has an enduring relationship of a spousal nature provided that the employee and the domestic partner: (a) have lived together for at least six consecutive months; (b) are at least eighteen years old; (c) are not married or considered a domestic partner to another person; (d) are not related by blood so as to bar marriage; and (e) have agreed to be responsible for each other’s welfare.
Parental leave is broadly redefined, adding several life events beyond the birth of an employee’s biological child, including pregnancy, recovery from childbirth or miscarriage, and time to care for and bond with the child within the first year after birth. It also includes the initial placement of a foster child eighteen years of age or younger and a period to care for and bond with the foster child within the first year after placement.
Qualifying exigency is defined as the deployment of a family member to active-duty service in the U.S. Armed Forces.
Safe leave, as provided for under Act 32, expands the existing leave provisions for crime victims. Currently, the parental and family leave laws provide employees with leave if they or certain family members are victims of a violent crime and may only be used when taken in connection with a legal proceeding.
Act 32 provides for safe leave when the employee or their family member is a victim or alleged victim of domestic violence, sexual assault, or stalking (the “criminal incidents”). To qualify as safe leave, it must be taken to seek or obtain medical care, counseling, or social or legal services; to recover from injuries; to participate in safety planning; to relocate or secure safe housing; to respond to a fatality or near fatality related to the criminal incidents; and/or to meet with a State’s Attorney or law enforcement officer. Safe leave does not apply if the employee is the perpetrator or alleged perpetrator involved in the criminal incident(s).
Has the duration of leave changed under Act 32?
The law does not expand the twelve-week limit of the VFPL. Notably, the law limits bereavement leave to up to two weeks, with no more than five workdays to be taken consecutively.
What benefits may be used concurrently to parental or family leave under Act 32?
The law continues to allow employees to use accrued sick leave, vacation leave, and any other accrued paid leave, but those leaves cannot be used to extend the overall twelve weeks of leave provided for under the law.
Have notice requirements changed under Act 32?
The law continues to require that employees provide their employer with reasonable written notice of their intent to take leave. This notice must include the date the leave is expected to commence and its estimated duration.
Notice requirements have changed, however, in the event of an unanticipated serious health condition, a miscarriage or premature birth, an unanticipated need for safe leave, the death of a family member, or a short notice qualifying exigency. In these cases, the employee is only required to give their employer notice of the leave as soon as practicable.
Are employers permitted to request verifying documentation?
Yes, employers are permitted to require documentation from a medical provider to verify an employee or their family member’s serious health condition as part of a family leave notice.
Employers may also require documentation verifying the need for safe leave from a court; law enforcement or other governmental agency; social assistance program; and/or any legal, clerical, medical, or other professional involved in the criminal incident. Employees may also fulfill this request via a self-attestation describing the circumstances necessitating safe leave. Employers are prohibited, unless otherwise authorized by law, from disclosing private information provided to them by the employee in connection with safe leave notice.
In the event of a bereavement leave, the employer may require a death certificate, published obituary, or written verification of death, burial or memorial service from a mortuary, religious organization, or governmental agency.
What should employers do to comply with Act 32?
Employers should post notices regarding the law’s new provisions as published by the Department of Labor in a conspicuous location within the business. Further, as the new law significantly changes the covered events qualifying for leave, employers should review and update handbooks, policies, forms, and/or human resources publications related to these employee rights. Finally, as the expansion of unpaid leave laws is likely to lead to an increase of employee leave taken, employers should consider how the law will impact their workforce planning and administration of benefit plans.
Please contact Heather Hammond (hhammond@gravelshea.com) at
Gravel & Shea PC if you have questions or would like assistance.
