Provides for unpaid leave for employees who are domestic abuse survivors (OR NO IMPACT See Note)

House Bill 390 enacts a new provision in Louisiana Revised Statutes Title 23 creating a right to unpaid leave for employees who are survivors of domestic abuse. The statute requires employers with fifty or more employees to grant up to three working days of unpaid leave per twelve-month period to any employee who is a survivor of domestic abuse, regardless of whether the leave is paid or unpaid. The law specifies five permissible uses for this leave: seeking medical care or mental health counseling to recover from physical or psychological injury caused by the domestic abuse, obtaining services from victim service organizations such as domestic abuse shelters, obtaining psychological or other counseling, temporarily or permanently relocating, and taking legal action including preparation for or participation in civil or criminal proceedings related to the domestic abuse. The statute permits employers to request documentation to verify the need for leave, including confirmation of scheduled appointments from licensed counselors, healthcare providers, or attorneys, protective orders, police reports, or court summonses.

The practical effect of this legislation is to establish a protected leave entitlement for a significant segment of Louisiana's workforce. Employees at covered employers—those with fifty or more employees—gain the ability to address domestic abuse-related needs without risking job loss for taking the time necessary to seek help, access services, or pursue legal remedies. Employers are required to maintain workplace neutrality on this issue and cannot retaliate against employees by discharging, demoting, suspending, or otherwise discriminating against them for exercising their right to domestic abuse leave. Large and medium-sized businesses will need to modify their leave policies and tracking systems to accommodate this new category of leave, and human resources departments will need to implement procedures for handling documentation requests while maintaining confidentiality and sensitivity around domestic abuse matters.

House Bill 390 operates within Louisiana's existing employment law framework under Chapter 9 of Title 23, which contains various employment-related statutes. The leave right created here exists alongside other protected leave categories such as jury duty leave and military service leave already established in state law. The prohibition on retaliation aligns with similar protections found throughout Louisiana employment statutes and federal employment law, including the Family and Medical Leave Act and various whistleblower protection provisions. The fifty-employee threshold mirrors the coverage standard used in Louisiana Revised Statutes 23:301 et seq., which regulates equal employment opportunity, creating consistency in which employers are subject to specific employment mandates. The statute does not create a right to paid leave but rather establishes that covered employers cannot penalize employees for taking unpaid time to address domestic abuse-related needs, leaving questions of compensation to employer policy and the parties' employment agreements.