501 Parental Leave Policy

Parental Leave Policy

The College recognizes that staff members may need to be absent from work to care for a newborn child or newly adopted or foster child (referred to as parental leave in this policy).  As such, the College provided parental leaves of absences to all eligible employees in accordance with the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), Pregnancy Discrimination Act (PDA), Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), and any applicable state law.

Eligibility & Guidelines:

    1. All full-time employees are eligible for parental leave under this policy, as defined below, for the following reasons:

•    The birth of a child and in order to care for that child (leave to be completed within one year of the child’s birth).

•    The placement of a child for adoption or foster care and in order to care for the newly placed child (leave to be completed within one year of the child’s placement).

2. An eligible employee may take up to 8 weeks of paid parental leave, to run concurrently with FMLA leave, in a 12-month period. 

*Staff may take an additional four weeks beyond the parental leave (for a total of 12 weeks) by using accrued sick time at 100% of pay first followed by accrued PTO time and short-term disability. If the employee has exhausted the paid options before the 12 weeks are reached, they may be off for this period without pay.

3. Staff who both work for the College and who are both eligible to take parental leave for the birth of a child, adoption or placement of a child in foster care may each take 8 weeks of leave. If one parent is a faculty member and the other is a Centre staff member, the parents are both eligible for the two-course load reduction and 8-week paid leave, as applicable to their roles.

4. If you need to take parental leave for the birth of a child or to care for a newly adopted or foster child, you must provide advance notice in writing to the immediate supervisor and Human Resources. When possible, you should give at least 90 days’ notice of your request for leave to allow sufficient time to review the needs of your department, provide for adequate replacement, etc. Human Resources will respond to all requests for parental leave in writing.

5. No staff member will be subject to any adverse employment action based upon the exercise of any rights under this policy or applicable law. The request for or use of parental leave would not negatively impact or cause any adverse employment actions with regards to promotion or advancement.

6. Because the purpose of parental leave is to provide employees with an opportunity to care for and bond with their children, employees will forfeit parental leave if they accept employment or work for another employer during parental leave provided by the College. Exceptions may be made on a case-by-case basis with the approval of an employee's supervisor and the Human Resources Department.