Faculty Parental Leave Policy

Faculty Parental Leave Policy

Eligible Faculty Member. The following full-time faculty members shall be eligible for paid parental leave as specified in this policy and may view the Faculty Parental Leave Form:

i. Tenured faculty;
ii. Tenure track faculty, who have greater than one (1) year of service at the University at the time of the event (birth, adoption, placement);
iii. Faculty on fixed-term appointments of two or more years, who have greater than one (1) year of service at the University at the time of the event (birth, adoption, placement); and
iv. Faculty on continuing appointments, including continuing directors, who have greater than one (1) year of service at the University at the time of the event (birth, adoption, placement). 

Parental Leave. An eligible faculty member shall, upon written request, be granted one (1) full semester of paid leave within twelve (12) months of the birth, adoption or state placement of a child. Should both parents be eligible faculty members, the leave allowed is a total of one (1) semester for both parents, not one (1) semester each. All leave following the date of birth, adoption or placement must be taken within twelve (12) months following the event. All leave following the date of birth, adoption or placement must be taken in consecutive days or weeks. No intermittent leave is available for birth, placement or adoption. 

No Carry Forward or Terminal Leave. Parental leave shall not accumulate or be carried forward from year to year, shall not be allowable as terminal leave when the faculty member leaves the University and shall not be used to extend the years of creditable service for retirement benefits purposes. 

Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA) of 1993. Under FMLA, faculty meeting the eligibility criteria of the FMLA may be permitted to take up to a total of twelve (12) weeks of paid and/or unpaid job protected leave in a twelve (12) month period for the reasons set forth below. The twelve (12) month period is a "rolling back" period based on the initial date of the qualifying event. A request for leave under the FMLA must be approved by the University. 

If a faculty member is eligible for leave under the FMLA, then any paid parental leave shall count toward the twelve (12) weeks of leave guaranteed under FMLA. Specifically, FMLA leave and paid leave taken under this policy will run concurrently, not cumulatively. 

If a faculty member is not eligible for leave under the FMLA, that faculty member is still eligible for paid parental leave under this policy, but such leave shall not count as leave under the FMLA. 

Any leave taken under the FMLA, after exhaustion of the paid leave available under this policy shall be unpaid leave. 

Notice Requirements. Faculty should provide the University with advance written notice of the intent to take parental leave as soon as practicable and, in no event later than June 1st for the Fall semester and October 1st for the Spring semester. The University recognizes that, in the case of adoption or state placement, the timeframe for such placement or adoption may not be known that far in advance. In such event, faculty should provide the University with notice of the possible adoption or state placement as specified above and must promptly notify the University once the date of such adoption or placement is known. Any failure to give a timely notice may cause the leave to be delayed. 

A faculty member shall notify the University in writing, as soon as reasonably possible, if they will not be returning from leave as planned. Failure to report back to work at the end of the scheduled leave may be considered a voluntary resignation by the faculty member. 

Medical Insurance Continuation. While on parental leave, whether or not the faculty member is eligible under FMLA, the University will continue to pay the Employer's share of medical insurance premiums under the group plan and faculty must continue to pay their share in order to maintain coverage under the plan. Failure to pay premiums will result in a lapse of coverage. If the faculty member fails to return at the end of the approved period of leave, then they will be liable to the University for the Employer's share of the health care premiums that the University paid during the approved period of leave. In addition, while not required by FMLA, the University will continue Long-Term Disability and Life Insurance benefits for covered faculty who are on approved leave.

View the Faculty Parental Leave Policy.


Married Couple Rule

If both spouses are employed by UR, the combined FMLA for the following reasons shall not exceed 12 weeks during any 12-month period.

  • For the birth of a child or to care for a child after birth
  • For placement of a child with the employee for adoption or foster care, or to care for the child after placement
  • To care for the employee’s own parent with a serious health condition. (Care for in-laws is not covered.)
  • The combined total FMLA available to eligible spouses for caring for a covered service member with a serious illness or injury, bonding leave, for placement of a child for adoption or foster care, to care for a child after placement, and to care for the employee's parent with a serious health condition, is 26 weeks during any 12-month period.
  • Where spouses use a portion of the total combined FMLA leave entitlement for any of the above reasons, the spouses would each be entitled to the difference between the amount he or she has taken individually and 12 weeks for FMLA leave for other purposes.