UH-Victoria

Office of the Vice President for
Administration and Finance

SECTION: HUMAN RESOURCES INDEX: C-27

SUBJECT: PARENTAL LEAVE


POLICY


This policy describes the parental leave benefits that the State of Texas provides to eligible employees in accordance with the General Provisions of the State General Appropriations Act. This policy complies with the University of Houston System Administrative Memorandum.

UHV employees who have not met the employee eligibility requirements for Federal Family and Medical Leave (FMLA) are entitled to parental leave for the following qualifying conditions:

  • The birth of a child to the employee and the care of the newborn
  • The placement of a child under three years of age with an employee in connection with the adoption or state-approved foster care of the child

Leave taken for these events must be reported as parental leave.

The eligible employee is entitled to a maximum of 12 weeks of approved parental leave in a year, as defined in this policy.  The employee may take a shorter leave.  Employees who meet the eligibility requirements of one parental leave are entitled to benefits under UHV Policy C-26.

Definitions

Child:  For the purposes of parental leave, a biological, adopted, or foster child under three years of age

Eligible employee:  For the purposes of parental leave, any employee who:

  • Has worked for the State of Texas for a period of time less than 12 months; and
  • Has fewer than 1,250 hours actually worked for the University of Houston-Victoria in the 12-month period immediately preceding the leave.

Year:  Twelve months measured forward from the first date parental leave begins

Other applicable definitions may be found in UHV Policy C-26.

Policy Provisions

An eligible employee must use all applicable accrued paid leave (including sick leave and vacation) while taking parental leave. The use of accrued sick leave is, however, restricted to those circumstances that would otherwise qualify the employee for sick leave usage under state law and university rules and regulations governing the use of sick leave (UHV Policy C-1). The employee may choose to use accrued compensatory time, instead of unpaid parental leave, but may not be required to do so. Any compensatory time taken may not be counted against the employee's 12-week parental leave entitlement.

Employees with less than six months of continuous employment with the State of Texas are not eligible to take vacation.

A leave of absence extends the probationary period of employment.

Parental leave may start no earlier than the date of birth of a natural child or adoption or foster care placement of the child.

Except under the conditions outlined in UHV Policy C-26, employees returning from approved parental leave within the provisions of this policy shall be restored to their original or equivalent positions with equivalent pay, benefits, and other employment terms.

  • An employee offered an equivalent position who chooses to decline the position waives any rights to reinstatement.
  • An employee who believes that a position offered is not an equivalent position is entitled to file a grievance under UHV Policy C-21.

Other provisions relating to leave for birth, adoption, or foster care of a child under family and medical leave apply also to parental leave. Those provisions may be found in UHV Policy C-26.


PROCEDURES

All requests for parental leave must be submitted on the Application for Family and Medical Leave or Parental Leave form and shall be accompanied by the written statement or form certified by the health care provider.  (See UHV Policy C-26 for application form.) "Parental Leave" should be checked in the appropriate area on the application form.

Employees are responsible for submitting both required forms to their supervisor at least 30 calendar days in advance of the leave, where possible.  The supervisor must in turn ensure that the forms are forwarded to the Human Resources Office within three days of receipt.

Full information must be provided as outlined in UHV Policy C-26, and the procedure for departmental processing of an application outlined in that policy shall be followed.

To request leave based on the adoption or placement of a child, a copy of the legal order of adoption or placement is required.

Insurance Premium Billing

Procedures for insurance premium billing under family and medical leave (UHV Policy C-26) are the same for parental leave.  Therefore, when parental leave is without pay, that process shall be followed, except that the personnel action request (PAR) shall indicate "Parental Leave" in the Remarks section.

Employee Requirement for Return to Work:

Upon return to work, an employee who has been on approved leave for more than three days based on the employee's serious health condition (i.e. childbirth) will be required to present to the supervisor a doctor's release certifying fitness to return to work.  This requirement does not apply to the father or adoptive/foster parent taking parental leave.

A request to return to duty with restrictions will be considered on a case-by-case basis, based on such concerns as the needs of the department, the essential functions of the job, and the type and extent of existing restrictions.

General Procedural Requirements

All employee reporting requirements and record keeping requirements for parental leave are the same as those for family and medical leave as outlined inUHV Policy C-26.

The Human Resources Office must be contacted within 30 days of the birth/adoption/ placement to include the new baby/child in the employee’s insurance coverage.

Approved by:       

  

Signature obtained                     4/13/06
Tim Hudson, Ph.D.                    Date
President

Originating department: Human Resources
New review date:  April 2008

[Back to MAIN Table of Contents]  [Back to SECTION Table of Contents]  [UHV HOME]