The purpose of this policy is to provide a leave of absence for those employees who are engaging in starting or building their families.
Employees are considered eligible if they have been employed by the University for at least one (1) year and at least 1250 hours over the prior 12 months.
An eligible employee who becomes a parent, for the first time or is adding to their family, through natural birth, surrogacy birth, or adoption, is entitled to a paid leave. Parental leave is concurrent with the Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA). The Parental leave will run concurrently with a medical leave associated with the birth.
The leave year will be determined by a “rolling” 12-month period measured backward from the date the employee starts an initial parental leave.
The birth of more than one (1) child from the same pregnancy constitutes one (1) birth for the purposes of this policy. Adoption is defined by legal adoption of a child(ren) six (6) years of age or less. The adoption of more than one (1) child within the same leave year constitutes one (1) adoption for the purposes of this policy.
Where both parents are eligible »¨¼¾´«Ã½ employees, the parents are each entitled to share a twelve (12) week paid leave between them at their discretion.
During a parental leave, benefits continue as though the employee is actively working. Benefits include but are not limited to:
The employee will continue to accrue sick and vacation time. (see Employee Guide/Vacation Policy)
The employee will be paid for holidays occurring during their regular schedule.
Health insurance contributions made by the employee will be deducted from pay issued.
The employee will remain an active participant in the retirement program.
Employees taking leave under this policy must submit a written request at least thirty (30) days before the anticipated commencement of the leave. Employees should submit their request to the Office of Human Resources. In the case of an emergency or when 30-days notice cannot otherwise be provided, the employee or a member of the employees’ immediate family must notify Human Resources and the VPAA, if faculty, or their immediate supervisor, if staff. In the event notice is provided verbally, a written leave request should follow the verbal request by no more than five (10) calendar days.
Faculty - Faculty do not have time off provisions under Vacation Time and therefore they may take up to 12 weeks of paid leave within the leave year. The leave will be effective in the semester during which the eligible faculty member will miss more than two (2) successive weeks of class due to the addition to their family. If the associated leave will not overlap more than two (2) successive weeks of class, the leave may be taken during the semester immediately following the addition to their family. During an approved Parental leave, the eligible faculty member is relieved of all teaching, service, and scholarly/artistic work obligations. The balance of the eligible faculty member’s work during the remaining weeks of the affected semester will be devoted to non-teaching duties (i.e., scholarly/artistic work, professional development or service) An eligible faculty member who takes a Parental leave during their probationary period for tenure may, upon request to and approval of the VPAA, receive a one (1) semester extension of the probationary period.
Staff - Staff may take up to twelve (12) consecutive weeks of leave when they combine eight (8) weeks of parental leave and up to an additional four (4) weeks of any accrued, but unused vacation time, within the leave year. During an approved Parental leave, the eligible staff member is relieved of all work obligations.