Utah Acts on Maternity Leave, School Phone Use, and Classroom Technology

Expanding support for Utah families was a major priority for the House majority caucus this session, and maternity leave was a key part of that push.

H.B. 329, State Employee Maternity and Leave Amendments, sponsored by Rep. Defay, increases paid postpartum recovery leave for state employees from three to six weeks. Combined with the existing three weeks of parental leave, eligible employees may take up to nine weeks following childbirth. The bill also creates a new four-week foster leave category as a standalone entitlement and provides six weeks of paid adoption leave for employees adopting a child under six years old.

The change came out of a House pro-family working group convened during the interim to address declining fertility rates and rising costs of living. And the goal was straightforward, Rep. Defay said: give new mothers more time to recover, bond with their child, and return to work with greater stability.

Bell McCormick pointed to the research behind the policy. Maternity leave is among the most studied family policies in the world, she said, with outcomes that benefit mothers, infants, and employers alike. Expanded leave is linked to roughly “a 70% reduction in people leaving the workforce” – a direct cost savings for the state.

During the session, Bell McCormick and Rep. Defay heard from families across Utah. The feedback was consistent. The feedback was consistent.

“The lack of maternity leave was such a big struggle for Utah’s families,” Bell McCormick said. “Your body needs time to recover and to heal.”

Beyond the economics, Bell McCormick said, the response from Utah women was personal “Utah women felt very seen,” she said. “This is going to help me. It will help my family.”