Unpaid Leave to Attend School Meetings

In Illinois and Indiana, your employer may need to provide you with unpaid time off for attending school meetings, such as parent-teacher conferences.

In Illinois, under the Illinois School Visitation Rights Act, employers with 50 or more employees must give employees up to 8 hours of unpaid leave during each school year to attend school conferences, behavioral meetings, or academic meetings related to the employee’s child. However, the employee may only take up to 4 hours of leave for school meetings per day.

In addition, employees must use all of their other time off, excluding disability and sick leave, before they can ask their employer for unpaid leave for school meetings. Employees must provide their employer with a written notice 7 days before the school meeting, or 24 hours before if the school meeting is an emergency. An employer may not terminate an employee solely because the employee took such unpaid time off to attend a school meeting.

In Indiana, under Senate Bill 409, all employers must give employees one day of unpaid leave per year to attend a school attendance conference or case conference meeting related to the employee’s child. Employees must give their employer advance notice 5 days before the school meeting, if the meeting is not an emergency.

An employer may not terminate an employee solely because the employee took the one unpaid day of leave per year to attend a school meeting. However, if the employee takes more than one unpaid day of leave per year to attend a school meeting, or if the employee fails to provide reasonable advance notice to the employer, the employer may take adverse action against the employee. In addition, the employee must also make a reasonable effort to schedule a virtual meeting with the school instead of an in-person meeting. SB 409 took effect on July 1, 2025, and is set to expire on July 1, 2029, unless lawmakers renew the law.

Thickstun Luo LLC may be able to help you pursue a legal claim if you were wrongfully fired from your job. Contact us today for a consultation.

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Disclaimer: The LEGALESE blog and the posts therein do not form an attorney-client relationship between you and Thickstun Luo LLC. Furthermore, this blog is not intended to render legal advice regarding your specific situation. You should consult an attorney for specific legal advice. Some content in LEGALESE blog posts pertain to state-specific legal rules and concepts that may not be applicable in every jurisdiction.