This story was first reported by Louisiana Illuminator and republished with permission.
With no fanfare, Gov. Jeff Landry signed a new executive order Monday that continues paid parental leave for thousands of state government employees after expressing skepticism about the policy last year.
Landry’s predecessor, Democrat Gov. John Bel Edwards, was the first to authorize paid parental leave for nearly 69,000 state workers on his way out of office last November. The benefit kicked in Jan. 1, about a week before Landry took office, and the current Republican governor had previously questioned whether the state could afford the policy.
“We can be aspirational as governors, but the Legislature are the ones that have to find the money to pay for it,” Landry said about paid parental leave at a press conference last November.
The governor didn’t repeal the parental benefits Edwards approved, however.
Landry had to issue an executive order by the end of this week in order to keep paid parental leave in place for 30,000 unclassified state employees working for the executive branch. Otherwise, they would have lost the benefit when Edwards’ order expired Saturday.
Landry’s office said he was not comfortable pulling the benefit from unclassified workers when 39,000 executive branch employees in the classified civil service system would have still had access to it.
“The [executive order] governs unclassified civil service, and we just want them to be consistent,” Landry’s spokeswoman Kate Kelly said in a written statement Friday night. “It would be very difficult for an agency with both classified and unclassified to have different rules on leave.”
At Edwards’ urging last year, the Louisiana State Civil Service Commission voted to extend the paid parental leave he ended up giving unclassified workers to the classified cohort. Only the commission, which Landry does not control, can repeal it.
Six of the seven civil service commissioners are picked by the governor from lists of nominees provided by presidents of private colleges in Louisiana, but none of the commissioners appointed by Edwards have seen their terms expire yet. Landry appointees wouldn’t make up the majority of the board until the end of 2028, and that’s only if he gets reelected to a second term as governor.
Classified employees tend to have lower paying jobs in government but enjoy more protections from disciplinary action, firing and political influence.Unclassified employees work in higher education or are often appointed by the governor and other elected officials. They include the heads of state offices, Landry’s cabinet members and people on the governor’s executive staff.
At least 246 state employees took advantage of paid parental leave policy from its inception in January through June 26, according to the state Civil Service Commission. That figure doesn’t include employees at state colleges and universities who also have access to the benefit.
Under the policy, the employees are granted six weeks of paid parental leave following the birth, adoption or foster placement of a child.
They must work for the state government for at least a year to be eligible for the benefit, and the leave must be taken within three months of becoming a new parent. It applies to all genders.
Previously, state employees had to use sick leave or vacation days if they wanted to take paid parental leave, though the federal government requires the state to offer at least 12 weeks of unpaid time off to most working new parents.
The state Civil Service Commission has placed one recent limitation on its paid parental leave policy. Starting Aug. 8, classified employees won’t be paid additionally or compensated for parental leave that overlaps with paid holidays, office closures or days off due to natural disasters and “celebrations.” Landry’s policy for unclassified workers will also reflect this change.
In addition to continuing paid parental leave, Landry also expanded the types of events covered by unclassified state workers’ sick leave policy through his executive order.
As of Monday, unclassified employees can use their sick leave days to take care of immediate family members who are sick or injured. Previously, a person could only use sick leave if they were injured or ill themselves.
The more flexible sick leave policy lines up with a civil service rule passed a few years ago that already applies to classified employees.
But the upgraded parental and sick leave benefits don’t apply to all realms of state government. Employees in the state courts and Louisiana Legislature aren’t eligible under Landry’s executive order or the state civil service rule. State legislative employees also aren’t guaranteed 12 weeks of unpaid parental leave under federal law like other employees.