| Definition
Parental Leave is the limited use of accrued sick leave
for the birth or adoption of a child during the first six
months following the date of birth or placement. Other uses
of sick leave require the employee or his/her dependent
to be ill or have medical appointments (see "Sick
Leave" section).
Eligibility
Any regular staff or faculty employee who has completed
12 months of benefits-eligible employment may request to
use accrued sick leave for Parental Leave. The use of Parental
Leave reduces the amount of unpaid Family Leave (as defined
by the federal statute) available to the employee. After
Parental Leave is exhausted, an employee may still be eligible
for unpaid Personal Leave. (Contact Human Resources for
more information.)
Leave Requirement
Generally, sick leave may be used to pay for up to two months
of Parental Leave (two calendar months for faculty, 340
hours for staff) pro-rated based upon the percentage of
employment for part-time staff and faculty. Prior to using
Parental Leave, employees must use all other appropriate
paid leaves. Parental Leave may be used only to pay for
the difference between the absence covered by other appropriate
leave and two months.
Ex: Birth father has three weeks (120 hours) of annual
leave and ten weeks (400 hours) of sick leave. Following
the birth of his healthy child, father uses all appropriate
leave (three weeks or 120 hours annual leave). He is then
entitled to use five and one-half of his ten weeks (220
hours) of sick leave as Parental Leave. He is in a paid,
non-working status for approximately two months following
the birth of his child. If he had three weeks of annual
leave and only two weeks of sick leave, he would be in
a paid status only five weeks, the last two of which would
be sick leave used as Parental Leave.
Leave Requests
Although all employees are encouraged to discuss any potential
absences with supervisors as soon as anticipated, employees
must submit a written request at least 30 days prior to
the commencement of leave in cases where the leave is foreseeable
and make reasonable efforts in scheduling leaves to avoid
disrupting the work unit. Where leave is not foreseeable,
the written request must be submitted to the employee's
supervisor before the commencement of paid Parental Leave.
Failure to submit a written request and appropriate supporting
documentation in a timely fashion may result in disapproval
of the request for paid Parental Leave.
Intermittent Leave
Parental Leave may be taken on an intermittent or reduced
basis only if the arrangement is agreed to by the employee's
supervisor.
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