The purpose of paid parental leave is to enable the employee to physically recover from the birth and/or to care for and bond with a newborn or a newly adopted child.

Ursinus has the exclusive right to interpret or modify this policy.

Eligibility

• Regular, full-time Ursinus employees eligible for benefits must: Have been employed with Ursinus for at least twelve (12) months; and
• Be a full-time faculty or full-time staff member employed by Ursinus.

If both parents are employees of Ursinus at the time of the birth or adoption of the child, both parents are eligible for the paid parental leave.

In addition, employees must meet one of the following criteria within the last twelve (12) months:

• Have given birth to a child;
• Be the spouse/domestic partner of a woman who has given birth to a child;
• Be the biological parent, or spouse/domestic partner of the biological parent, of the child; or
• Have adopted a child who is 17 years old or younger. This provision does not apply to the adoption of a stepchild by a stepparent or the placement of a foster child.

For purposes of this policy, domestic partners are defined as set forth in the College’s policy regarding benefits for domestic partners — https://www.ursinus.edu/live/files/3820-affidavit-of-domestic-partnership-for-benefits.

Employees must use the paid parental leave for the purpose of physically recovering from the birth of a child and/or caring for or bonding with the newborn or newly adopted child.

Amount, Timeframe, and Duration

Eligible employees may receive up to fifteen (15) weeks of paid leave per birth or adoption of a child. In addition, in no case may an employee receive more than fifteen (15) weeks of paid parental leave in a rolling twelve (12) month period. The occurrence of a multiple birth or adoption (e.g., the birth of twins or adoption of siblings) does not increase the maximum amount of leave granted for that event.

Approved paid parental leave may be taken at any time during the twelve (12) month period immediately following the birth or adoption of a child. Paid parental leave may not be used or extended beyond the twelve (12) month time frame. Paid parental leave cannot be used on an intermittent basis, absent extraordinary circumstances.

Upon termination of the individual’s employment at Ursinus, he or she will not be paid for any unused paid parental leave for which he or she was eligible.

	Short-Term Disability at 100% Pay	Parental Leave at 100% Pay
Birth Mother	8 weeks	7 weeks
Spouse/Partner	-	6 weeks
Adoption
Primary Caregiver	-	15 weeks
Secondary Caregiver	-	6 weeks
Concurrent with FMLA?	Yes	Yes

Due to the academic calendar, faculty may receive paid parental leave for an entire semester.

It is not the intent of this policy to provide an employee with pay for a period when otherwise there would be no compensation (e.g., during the summer for most faculty).

Primary and Secondary Caregivers

A primary caregiver is the person who has parental responsibility and who consistently assumes the role of providing direct care and support of the child without compensation for such care. A secondary caregiver is a person who has parental responsibility for a child but is not the primary caregiver.

Coordination with Other Policies

• Coordination with Short-Term Disability for the Birth Mother
  An employee cannot receive short-term disability benefits and paid parental leave benefits at the same time. As set forth in the table above, if an employee is eligible for short-term disability benefits after giving birth to a child, the short-term disability benefits will run for the first eight (8) weeks of leave, with the balance being Parental Leave paid at 100% of her salary for the remaining seven (7) weeks.

• Coordination with FMLA
  Ursinus’ Family and Medical Leave (FMLA) policy provides twelve (12) weeks of unpaid leave for the birth or adoption of a child for eligible employees. Paid parental leave and FMLA leave will run concurrently when an employee is eligible for both. Additionally, FMLA will run concurrently with short-term disability.

• Coordination with Other Policies
  Ursinus will maintain all benefits for employees during the paid parental leave period just as if they were taking any other Ursinus-paid leave such as paid sick leave or paid time off.
  
  If a Ursinus holiday(s) occurs while the employee is on paid parental leave, such holiday(s) will not extend the total paid parental leave entitlement, and the employee will not receive additional holiday pay for the day.

• Coordination with Faculty Practices
  Ursinus faculty who are eligible for fifteen (15) weeks of leave/short-term disability under this policy will normally be excused from full teaching responsibilities for an entire semester; this also applies to those whose work schedule aligns with the academic semester such as laboratory support personnel. For those eligible for only six (6) weeks of leave, the Dean of the College will consult with the faculty member to plan ways to give the faculty member an equivalent leave while also ensuring fulfillment of any ongoing responsibilities; for such individuals, this will normally consist of a reduction of teaching load by one course over the leave semester and reduced service responsibilities.

Notice Requirements

Employees should provide Ursinus with advance written notice of the intent to take paid parental leave as soon as practicable.