Parental Leave Policy - Staff

Parental leave is available to benefit-eligible staff. Leave is available immediately following the birth (including through surrogacy) or placement of a child through adoption or foster care. This policy cannot be used, however, in the event of adoption of a spouse's or domestic partner's child.

Primary Parental Leave: Eight consecutive weeks of paid leave will be provided to a primary caregiver, to be taken immediately upon the arrival of a child. A primary caregiver is defined as a person who has primary responsibility for the care of a child following the birth or the child coming into the custody, care, and control of the parent for the first time.

Secondary Parental Leave: Four weeks of paid leave (which may be taken intermittently) will be provided to a secondary caregiver, to be used anytime within the first 12 months following the arrival of a child. A secondary caregiver is defined as a person who has parental responsibility for the child but is not the primary caregiver.

Employees should request parental leave in writing to their supervisor as early as possible and no later than 90 days in advance of the requested leave. They must complete the Parental Leave form at the same time - this form notifies Human Resources, who will contact the employee regarding time off and benefits. If eligible for FMLA, staff also need to submit an FMLA Request form shortly prior to the commencement of their leave. HR will notify the employee if they are eligible for FMLA.

Additional Information:

  • Medical complications for an employee giving birth may alter the timeline of the leave. Please contact HR to discuss additional leave options and work flexibility arrangements.
  • In the case of adoption, leave may begin earlier than the date of placement (e.g., travel to another country to complete the adoption).
  • Paid parental leave runs concurrent with FMLA, when applicable.
  • Employees who wish to take more time off than the paid parental leave policy allows will use CTO; FMLA (if applicable) will run concurrently. CTO continues to accrue while on parental leave.
  • The period of paid leave is not extended for multiple births or in case of adopting/fostering more than one child at the same time.
  • For 9-, 10-, 11-month staff who do not work during the summer, primary parental leave will only apply for any balance of the eight weeks that the employee would otherwise have been scheduled to work.
  • Benefits and payroll deductions/withholdings continue during the parental leave period as if the employee continued to work.
  • Paid parental leave will override paid holidays but will not extend the total paid parental leave.
  • In cases where both caregivers are university employees, only one caregiver may be designated as primary for the purposes of this policy.
  • If an employee is a gestational surrogate, time off at delivery falls under the Short-Term Disability policy and the 10-day elimination period is waived.

Please contact Human Resources with any questions.