Amends TCA Title 3; Title 8; Title 16 and Title 50.

Under present law, state employees accrue one day of sick leave for each month worked and a varying amount of annual leave, based on length of service, for each month worked. Present law authorizes state employees to use annual leave and sick leave for up to 12 weeks of maternity, paternity, or adoptive parent leave. This bill adds that an eligible employee will be granted absence from work with pay for: (1) Four workweeks after the birth of the employee's newborn child or adoption of a newly placed minor child six years of age or younger, subject to certain notice requirements; and (2) One workweek for a serious health condition of the employee, employee's spouse, employee's child, or employee's, subject to certain notice requirements. The full text of this bill defines "serious health condition" and authorizes agencies that administer leave for eligible employees to define such term more stringently. The leave extended to state employees by this bill: (1) Must not be charged to any sick, annual, or other leave the employee may have accumulated; (2) Counts toward the eligible employee's use of FMLA leave; and (3) An employee must not be granted either type of leave more than once in a 12-month period. This bill does not prohibit granting both types of leave to the same employee in a 12-month period. This bill defines "eligible employee" to include employees with 12 months or more service in state service, the legislative branch, the judicial branch, the offices of the constitutional officers, the offices of the district attorneys general and the district public defenders, THEC, TACIR, THDA, and TRICOR. This bill requires the department of human resources to establish policies for implementing this bill with regard to executive branch agencies. With regard to nonexecutive branch agencies, this bill requires the equivalent of the agency's human resources office to establish policies for implementing this bill. This bill applies to any eligible employee that would qualify for leave under this bill beginning March 1, 2021.