Paid Family and Medical Leave for Faculty | University Policies and Standards

1. Policy Statement

1.1. Oregon State University (“university”) will provide eligible faculty members with paid family and medical leave. Family and medical leave may be taken for family, medical and safe leave as described by law and university sick leave policy, administered by the University Human Resources.

1.2. This leave is effective September 16, 2020 and will provide one-hundred and twenty (“120 hours”) of paid family and medical leave to eligible faculty members. This leave amount and this policy replaces the previous paid parental leave policy that provided sixty (“60”) hours of paid parental leave.

2. Reason for Policy

2.1. The university is committed to being a great place to work, learn, and flourish; and to creating and sustaining healthy environments that enable community members to live productive, balanced, and engaged lives.

2.2. In an effort to support this commitment, the university will provide faculty with paid family and medical leave to contribute to recruitment and retention efforts, reduce stress, increase morale, and assist employees with work-life integration.

2.3. This policy enhances the existing benefit of paid and unpaid leave programs: accrued sick leave; advance of unused sick leave; vacation leave; and leave provided by the Family and Medical Leave Act (“FMLA”) and the Oregon Family Leave Act (“OFLA”).

3. Scope & Audience

3.1. This university policy applies to all university faculty members with an appointment of 0.50 FTE or greater and meeting other requirements.

4. Definitions

4.1. Eligible employee: An unclassified academic or professional faculty member who:

4.1.1. Has an appointment of 0.50 FTE or greater;

4.1.2. Has been employed for at least 180 days; and,

4.1.3. Has a qualifying reason to take family and medical leave, described in the Family & Medical Leave Handbook.

5. Responsibilities & Procedures

5.1. General Guidelines for Paid Family and Medical Leave

5.1.1. The university will provide eligible employees with paid family and medical leave for qualifying reasons. Employees will provide medical certifications for serious health conditions or documents that confirm the birth of a child in the eligibility determination process.

5.1.2. Paid family and medical leave is paid at 100% of the employee’s regular rate of pay.

5.1.3. Paid family and medical leave is not available for the adoption of a spouse’s or domestic partner’s children.

5.1.4. Paid family and medical leave provides a paid leave benefit that may be combined with other leave programs (e.g., sick leave, vacation) to maximize the length of paid leave available for use. Paid family and medical leave will run concurrently with other protected leave programs.

5.1.5. Departments should be flexible in managing paid family and medical leave requests, so as to permit eligible employees to effectively manage career and family responsibilities.

5.1.6. Workload issues should be proactively managed so that excessive demands are not placed on the remaining faculty and staff.

5.2. Amount of Paid Family and Medical Leave

5.2.1. Eligible employees at 1.0 FTE will receive one hundred twenty (“120”) hours of paid family and medical leave.

5.2.2. Eligible employees at 0.50 FTE but less than 1.0 FTE will receive the number of hours of paid family and medical leave that is proportional to their appointment percentage.

5.2.3. Eligible employees on an academic year appointment will receive a pro-rated amount of paid family and medical leave for any portion of the 120 hours (1.0 FTE) that occurs in the academic year.

5.2.4. Employees who attain eligibility (180 days of service) while on leave for the purpose of family or medical leave reasons will be eligible for a pro-rated portion of paid family and medical leave.

5.2.5. If both parents are employed by the university and are eligible employees as defined in Sec. 4.1, both are entitled to paid family and medical leave and may take the leave concurrently or at separate times.

5.2.6. One paid family and medical leave benefit is available per employee per a 12 month period. .

5.3. Use of Leave

5.3.1. Paid family and medical leave may be used either on a continuous or intermittent basis as described by law, university policy, and unit-level rules.

5.4. Coordination with Other Paid/Unpaid Leaves

5.4.1. Paid family and medical leave runs concurrently with available leave under FMLA and OFLA. If the amount of available leave under FMLA and/or OFLA is less than the amount of paid family and medical leave to be taken, paid family and medical leave will still be granted as specified in this policy.

5.4.2. Disability benefits. Paid family and medical leave is not required to be exhausted prior to the use of short-term disability. The employee may choose to supplement their short-term disability benefit by using paid family and medical leave to make up to 100% of their salary. If a member is receiving short-term disability benefits and paid family leave for his/her own health condition, the short-term disability benefit will be reduced by the amount of paid family leave according to the plan provider’s rules.

5.5. Failure to Return to Work

5.5.1. The employee must reimburse the university the paid family and medical leave benefit paid under this policy if the employee:

5.5.2. Fails to return to work after the expiration of this leave and/or any other authorized leave period (e.g., FMLA, OFLA, extended leave of absence); or,

5.5.3. Returns, but fails to remain actively at work for at least thirty (30) calendar days.

5.5.4. The university will not require reimbursement if the failure to return to work is due to the continuation, recurrence, or onset of a serious health condition of the employee or family member that would otherwise qualify the employee to receive leave under FMLA and/or OFLA, or other circumstance beyond the employee’s control.