Applies to: (examples; Faculty,Staff, Students, etc)

Faculty , Staff

Policy Overview:

University of Health Sciences and Pharmacy in St. Louis (UHSP) recognizes that employees must balance work obligations with providing care for their families. The intent of this Paid Caregiver/Parental Leave policy provides eligible faculty and staff members with paid leave to support them while meeting family obligations outside the workplace. The leave benefit that will provide up to four weeks of paid leave to employees on FMLA leave for the following FMLA reasons:

• Bond with the newborn child within one year of birth
• The placement with the employee of a child for adoption or foster care and to bond with the newly placed child within one year of placement
• Care of spouse/child/parent with a serious health condition
• Care for spouse/child/parent who is a member of the armed services undergoing treatment, recuperation or therapy or a qualifying exigency arising out of the fact that the employee’s spouse, son, daughter, or parent is a military member on covered active duty

Applies to regular, full-time, benefits eligible faculty and staff who qualify for FMLA.  Spouses and/or domestic partners who are both eligible employees may each take leave under this policy for the same qualifying event; managerial approval is required for both employees to be on leave at the same time.

Definitions:

Details:

1. Caregiver/parental leave may be taken for one or more of the following events, consistent with how those events are defined under the Family and Medical Leave Act:
   1. The birth or placement with the employee of a child via adoption, surrogacy or foster care, within the first 12 months following that event (Parental Leave);
   2. The care of the employee’s spouse/domestic partner, child or parent with a serious health condition (Caregiver Leave);
   3. The care of a spouse, child, parent or next of kin who is a member of the Armed Forces, including a member of the National Guard or Reserves, and who is undergoing medical treatment, recuperation, or therapy, is otherwise in outpatient status, or is otherwise on the temporary disability retired list, for a serious injury or illness incurred by the service member in the line of active duty (Military Caregiver Leave);
   4. A qualifying exigency arising out of the fact that the spouse, child, or parent of an employee is on active duty (or has been notified of an impending call or order to active duty) in the Armed Forces in support of a contingency operation (Military Exigency Leave).
2. Up to four weeks of paid (regular salary) leave may be taken within a rolling 12-month measured backward period from the date the employee uses any FMLA. This limitation also applies when the leave is used for a combination of qualifying events and when more than a single qualifying event occurs within the 12-month period. Additional leave may be available through other benefits or policies, such as paid sick time, vacation, and unpaid FMLA leave.
3. Leave under this policy must be taken in full week increments only, based on the employee’s regularly scheduled work week. Caregiver/Parental Leave pay can be used prior to use of paid vacation or paid personal holidays, but only after designated sick days for family are exhausted. If a partial week is needed, sick or vacation must be used for those days. (For example, if an employee requests 1.5 weeks of caregiver leave, one week of leave may be taken under this policy and the remaining half week must be taken using sick or vacation time.)
4. Employees are limited to a total of eight weeks (two leaves) under this policy within a five-year period, not to exceed four weeks per rolling 12‐month period.
5. Regular UHSP benefits continue during caregiver/parental leave. Sick and vacation time will not continue to accrue while an employee is on caregiver/parental leave.
6. Holidays occurring during caregiver/parental leave will be recorded as such and do not extend the leave period or augment pay.
7. Eligibility for leave stops upon termination of employment. Unused caregiver/parental leave time are not subjected to payout.

Procedures:

1. Applying for Leave
   1. Employees will need to submit the required FMLA forms and documentation, which may also suffice to support this policy’s documentation requirement. FMLA forms can be obtained from Human Resources.
   2. Employee must request use of paid caregiver/parental leave as part of their paid time off plan during FMLA.

Responsibilities:

Resources:

Faculty Handbook and Staff Handbooks: Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) policy

Policy Contacts:

Supplemental Information:

Original PDF: