A bill that would require certain employers who cover abortion expenses for Arkansas employees to also provide 12 weeks of paid maternity leave passed the Arkansas House Committee on Public Health, Welfare, and Labor on Thursday.
House Bill 1006, by Rep. Aaron Pilkington, R-Knoxville, passed the panel on a voice vote without audible dissent.
The bill would apply to "covered employers" who cover "abortions or travel expenses related to abortions" for employees.
A "covered employer" as defined by the bill is "any person engaged in commerce or in any industry or activity affecting commerce" who employs 50 or more employees for each working day during each of 20 or more calendar work weeks in the current or preceding calendar year.
"Covered employers" also would include any public agency, person "acting directly or indirectly in the interest of a covered employer to any of the employees of the employer" and successor "in interest of a covered employer."
Only full-time employees who have worked with the employer for at least 12 months are eligible.
Paid maternity leave under the bill must be paid as either 100% of the eligible employee's salary or a 12-week average of weekly pay.
Only employees who are enrolled in the covered employer's health benefit plan and are "birth mothers" are eligible for leave under the bill.
The legislation requires the leave to be paid immediately following the birth of the child. If an employer already provides a more generous paid maternity leave plan, employees are not limited to the 12 weeks guaranteed by the bill.
Employees are not allowed to combine paid maternity leave benefits offered by their employer. To meet the requirements of the bill, employers may combine paid maternity leave with other forms of paid leave "at the compensation level associated with the leave in the covered employer's benefits package."