P-12 Parental Leave

HELEN PLUM LIBRARY

P-12 Parental Leave
Approved by the Library Board of Trustees October 18, 2022.

Employees who are parents of newborns, newly adopted children, or children newly placed with them for foster care may qualify for paid parental leave of up to six weeks. The purpose of paid parental leave is to enable the employee to care for and bond with their newborn, newly adopted child, or newly placed foster child.

Paid parental leave will run concurrently with an employee’s FMLA (Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993) leave where applicable and may not be used to extend the FMLA leave.

Eligibility

Employees who have been employed by the Library for at least 12 consecutive months and who have worked for at least 1,250 hours during the 12-month period preceding the leave may qualify for paid parental leave[1].

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

• Have given birth to a child
• Be a spouse or committed partner of a person who has given birth to a child
• 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 child by a new spouse is excluded from this policy.

Amount, Timeframe, and Duration of Paid Parental Leave

During paid parental leave, eligible employees will receive their regular, straight-time pay for their regularly scheduled hours. Paid parental leave will be paid on regularly scheduled pay dates.

• Paid parental leave may begin no earlier than the birth or placement of the child or children.
• The fact that a multiple birth, adoption, or placement occurs (the birth of twins or adoption of siblings, for example) does not increase the total amount of paid parental leave granted for that event.[2] 
• Paid parental leave must be taken within the 12 months immediately following the birth, adoption, or placement of the child or children. Paid parental leave may not be used or extended beyond this 12-month time frame[3]. Any unused paid parental leave will be forfeited at the end of this time frame.
• An employee may not receive more than six weeks of paid parental leave in any rolling 12-month period, regardless of whether more than one birth, adoption, or foster care placement event occurs within that 12-month period.
• Paid parental leave time is in addition to any available sick leave, vacation time, or other paid time off.
• Parental leave must be taken in full week increments during the applicable FMLA time period.
• Upon termination of employment, an employee will not be paid for any unused paid parental leave for which they were eligible.

Coordination with Other Policies

During an approved paid parental leave, the Library will maintain the employee’s health insurance, IMRF contributions, and other benefits. Employees must continue to pay their portion of benefit payments (medical, dental, and/or vision) through payroll deductions. During a parental leave of absence, vacation and sick time will not accrue.

If a holiday occurs while an employee is on paid parental leave, the day will be considered part of their paid parental leave time and will not be paid as a holiday. Holidays falling within the parental leave time will not extend the total paid parental leave entitlement.

An employee does not have to use accrued vacation, personal, or sick time prior to taking paid parental leave, but may use such paid time off before or after parental leave.

Requests for Paid Parental Leave

If the need for parental leave is foreseeable, employees are asked to provide a written request to their manager and HR at least 30 days prior to the anticipated start of their leave. Requests should be signed and dated and include the anticipated start date and timeline for the leave of absence.

Employees may be asked to provide documentation to demonstrate their eligibility if requested.

[1] Eligibility requirements are aligned with the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 (FMLA) eligibility requirements.

[2] If a paid parental leave was taken for the placement of a foster child or children with an employee and the child or children are subsequently adopted by the employee, the employee will not be granted additional paid parental leave for the child or children at the time of adoption.

[3] Paid parental leave must begin and end within a consecutive 12-month period. For example, leave for a birth or placement on November 1 of a given year must be completed by October 31 of the following year.