On March 23, 2021, Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear signed legislation (HB 210) requiring every employer to grant up to six weeks of personal leave for adoptive parents when they need time off to adopt a child who is younger than age 10. Employers that already have a policy in place that gives birth parents more than six weeks off must likewise provide adoptive parents more than six weeks off. Employers must also provide the same type, amount, and duration of leave, along with pay and all other benefits, to adoptive parents who need leave after they adopt their child as it does to birth parents (after their child’s birth). However, adoption leave does not apply to an adoption by:
- Fictive kin, stepparent, stepsibling, blood relative, including a relative of half-blood, first cousin, aunt, uncle, nephew, or niece;
- A preceding generation (as denoted by prefixes of grand, great, or great-great); or
- A foster parent who adopts a foster child who is already in their care.
The law is projected to be effective June 28, 2021 (90 days after the General Assembly adjourns).