Existing law provides that a city council member’s office may become vacant if the council member is absent without permission from all regular city council meetings for 60 consecutive days after the last regular meeting attended. If the city council meets monthly or less frequently, the office becomes vacant after 70 consecutive days of such absences.
AB 2134 requires cities to establish a process allowing a council member to notify the city clerk or another designated official in writing that the member is taking parental leave. A council member may take at least 12 workweeks of parental leave, or a longer period if the city provides a longer parental leave period to its employees, without those absences counting toward the statutory vacancy rule. A city may not require the council member to make the parental-leave declaration at a public hearing. The law applies to charter cities as a matter of statewide concern.
Cities should establish or update a written parental-leave notification procedure for council members and ensure qualifying parental leave is excluded when calculating absences for purposes of determining a council vacancy.
AB 2134 amends section 36513 of the Government Code.
