Paid Parental Leave Policy

Effective: 7/10/2020; Reviewed 10/13/21
Updated: 7/25/22
Contact: Office of Human Resources

Purpose/Objective
William Jewell College will provide up to six weeks of paid parental leave to employees following the birth of an employee’s child or the placement of a child with an employee in connection with adoption or foster care. The purpose of paid parental leave is to enable the employee to care for and bond with a newborn or a newly adopted or newly placed child. This policy will run concurrently with Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) leave, as applicable. This policy will be in effect for births, adoptions or placements of foster children occurring upon approval of this policy.

Eligibility
Eligible employees must meet the following criteria:

  • Have been employed with the College for at least 12 months (the 12 months do not need to be consecutive).
  • Have worked at least 1,250 hours during the 12 consecutive months immediately preceding the date the leave would begin.
  • Be a full- or part-time regular employee (temporary employee, adjuncts, less than part-time employees and interns are not eligible for this benefit).

In addition, employees must meet one of the following criteria:

  • Have given birth to a child.
  • Be a spouse of one who has given birth to a child/domestic partner/surrogate situations or be serving “in loco parentis” (in the place of a parent and having responsibilities of a parent)
  • Have adopted a child or been placed with a foster child (in either case, the child must be age 17 or younger). The adoption of a new spouse’s child is excluded from this policy.

Amount, Time Frame and Duration of Paid Parental Leave

  • Eligible employees will receive a maximum of 6 weeks of paid parental leave per birth, adoption or placement of a child/children. The fact that a multiple birth, adoption or placement occurs (e.g., the birth of twins or adoption of siblings) does not increase the 6-week total amount of paid parental leave granted for that event. In addition, in no case will an employee receive more than 6 weeks of paid parental leave in a rolling 12-month period, regardless of whether more than one birth, adoption or foster care placement event occurs within that 12-month time frame.
  • Each week of paid parental leave is compensated at 100 percent of the employee’s regular, straight-time weekly pay. Paid parental leave will be paid according to the employee’s normal pay period. All benefits will continue, e.g., 403(b) match, health insurance, etc.
  • Approved paid parental leave may be taken at any time during the 12-month period immediately following the birth, adoption or placement of a child with the employee. Paid parental leave may not be used or extended beyond this 12-month time frame.
  • Employees may take paid parental leave in one continuous period of leave or intermittently within the 12 month time frame.
  • Upon termination of the individual’s employment at the company, he or she will not be paid for any unused paid parental leave for which he or she was eligible.

Coordination with Other Policies

  • Paid parental leave taken under this policy will run concurrently with leave under the FMLA; thus, any leave taken under this policy that falls under the definition of circumstances qualifying for leave due to the birth or placement of a child due to adoption or foster care, the leave will be counted toward the 12 weeks of available FMLA leave per a 12-month period. All other requirements and provisions under the FMLA will apply. In no case will the total amount of leave—whether paid or unpaid—granted to the employee under the FMLA exceed 12 weeks during the 12-month FMLA period.
  • After the paid parental leave is exhausted, the balance of FMLA leave (if applicable) will be compensated through employees’ accrued sick/personal and/or vacation. Upon exhaustion of accrued sick, vacation and personal time, any remaining leave will be unpaid leave.
  • The College will maintain all benefits for employees during the paid parental leave period as though taking leave under other types of leave, e.g., sick leave.
  • If a College holiday occurs while the employee is on paid parental leave, that day will be charged to holiday pay; however, such holiday pay will not extend the total paid parental leave entitlement.
  • If the employee is on paid parental leave when the College may offer administrative leave, that time will be recorded as paid parental leave. Administrative leave will not extend the paid parental leave entitlement.
  • An employee who takes paid parental leave that does not qualify for FMLA leave will be afforded the same level of job protection for the period of time that the employee is on paid parental leave as if the employee was on FMLA-qualifying leave.
  • While this policy is available to faculty, they may continue to utilize other options available to faculty which include alternative work arrangements as approved by the Vice President of Academic Affairs.

Requests for Paid Parental Leave

  • The employee will provide his or her supervisor and the Office of Human Resources with notice of the request for leave at least 30 days prior to the proposed date of the leave (or if the leave was not foreseeable, as soon as possible). The employee must complete the necessary HR forms and provide all documentation as required to substantiate the request.
  • As is the case with other College policies, the College has the exclusive right to change or interpret this policy.