Parental Leave Policy for Teaching Faculty Members
SUNY Potsdam has developed a policy that relates to how parental leave will be handled in an academic department or program, where the traditional use of sick leave and being out part of a year does not fit with the academic mission of the college. Two issues distinguish teaching faculty from other professional staff: 1) the semester schedule requires that courses meet in designated 15-week blocks. A leave that starts mid-course is very disruptive to student learning and it is often difficult to find appropriate substitute faculty; 2) Teaching faculty members do not accrue vacation time that can be used for additional paid leave beyond the period of the medical leave. Therefore, a special procedure is needed. This document begins with the UUP contract language and proceeds to a campus plan for handling teaching faculty.
The UUP Contract states:
Pregnant employees may be asked or encouraged to report the existence of pregnancy, but they may not be required to do so. Where, in the opinion of the Chief Administrative Officer or designee, the nature of the duties performed may be particularly hazardous or burdensome during pregnancy, this should be pointed out in the letter of appointment and such employees should be urged to advise their supervisors of any pregnancy. In any case where the Chief Administrative Officer or designee believes the employee is unable to perform the duties of the position because of pregnancy, the employee may be required to undergo a medical examination, at the expense of the campus, by a physician designated by the campus. A pregnant employee who is determined to be medically disabled from the performance of job duties must be treated the same as any other employee similarly disabled insofar as disability leave benefits are concerned.
Sick leave may be used only during a period of medical disability. Under this policy, disabilities arising from pregnancy or childbirth are treated the same as other disabilities in terms of eligibility for or entitlement to sick leave with and/or without pay and extended sick leave. Generally, the period of such disability is deemed to commence approximately four weeks prior to delivery and to continue for six weeks following delivery. While doctor's certificates may be required for any period of disability, campuses should request detailed medical documentation whenever disability is claimed to commence prior to or to extend beyond the period of disability described above.
A Chief Administrative Officer or designee may approve an employee's request for leave without pay during pregnancy and prior to the onset of any medical disability as a matter of discretion. Absences during pregnancy and following childbirth may be charged to vacation, irrespective of whether the employee is disabled. While the use of annual leave prior to the onset of medical disability is discretionary with the Chief Administrative Officer, employees must be permitted to use these accruals during a period of medical disability after sick leave with pay has been exhausted.
Employees, regardless of sex, are entitled to leave without pay for childcare for up to seven months following the date of delivery or adoption under Article 7 of the Domestic Relations Law. However, where the child is required to remain in the hospital following birth, the seven-month mandatory childcare leave shall, upon employee request, commence when the child is released from the hospital. If a child is required to be admitted to a hospital for treatment after child care leave has commenced, upon employee request, child care leave shall be suspended during a single continuous period of such hospitalization and that period shall not count toward calculation of the seven-month period. In such cases, any entitlement to mandatory childcare leave expires one year from the date the childcare leave originally commenced. For purposes of computing the seven- month period of mandatory leave periods during which the employee was absent for "disability" or use of leave credits are included: the mandatory seven-month period is not extended by the granting of disability leave or the use of accrued leave. During a period of leave for childcare, employees shall be permitted, upon request, to use annual leave before being granted leave without pay. As is the case with other mandatory leaves without pay (e.g., military leave), the University shall not require that employees exhaust all appropriate leave credits prior to being granted leave without pay for child care. Sick leave may be used only during a period of medical disability. Except in the case of continuing medical disability, any leave of absence beyond the seventh month following childbirth shall be at the discretion of the Chief Administrative Officer. An employee who requests a leave for child care of less than seven months is entitled to have such leave extended, upon request, up to the seven month maximum and may at the discretion of the Chief Administrative Officer or designee, have such leave extended beyond the seventh month. In certain situations, an employee may not be permitted to return from such leave until the expiration of the period that such employee requested and was granted. Generally, such restrictions on early return are limited to situations where such return would be disruptive of a project or where the termination of a replacement would occur.
During the seven-month period following childbirth, the granting of leave for childcare is mandatory upon request from either parent. If both parents are State employees, leave for child care is mandatory for one parent at a time and the parents may elect to split the mandatory seven-month leave into two separate blocks of leave with each parent entitled to one continuous period of leave but not to exceed a combined total of seven months of leave and not to extend beyond seven months from the date of delivery.
Campuses may, in their discretion, approve other arrangements for shared leave including concurrent leave and may, as a matter of discretion, extend leave for childcare beyond the mandatory seven months.
Campus Procedure Relating to Teaching Faculty
Teaching faculty members have a unique obligation to the students in their courses to present a coherent experience and the campus has an obligation to address the needs of those faculty so as to accommodate faculty members and maintain the integrity of student instruction. Therefore, the following option is available for a faculty member who is pregnant, or adopts a child, or whose partner is pregnant during the academic year.
The employee will be granted full pay for working half time during the one semester in which it is anticipated that an employee will give birth or adopt a child or the one semester immediately following the birth or adoption. Ordinarily, this half time work will not involve teaching but will involve administrative reassignments and can include activities such as internship coordination, research, grant writing and publication, administrative responsibilities within the department or school, curriculum revisions for the department or school, or program review for the department or school. Occasionally the half time commitment may include some teaching, if the class schedule can be modified while assuring the integrity of the instruction.
During the period of time that an employee is deemed medically disabled due to pregnancy or birth, the employee shall use their sick accruals.
To be considered for the option of administrative reassignment, an employee must notify the department chair in writing of the pregnancy or impending adoption. The request is done on the form attached to this policy and available in hard copy in Human Resources or on their website under “Forms”. The department chair, in consultation with the dean, will determine what responsibilities can be assigned to the employee for the semester. If the needs of the department do not fit within the employee's schedule for reassignment, then the Dean and Provost will assign responsibilities to the employee that serve the greater good of the school or the college. This arrangement will be put in writing and filed with the chair, dean, and Provost, as well as in the official personnel file in Human Resources.