Eligibility. A career employee who is currently working and who has successfully completed an initial probationary period during the current employment period and who worked at least 1,250 hours during the previous 12 months is eligible for a 12-week paid parental leave for the birth or placement by adoption of a child as provided in this letter of understanding. The employee must be a named parent on the child’s birth certificate or adoption papers, which must be presented within 31 days from the birth or adoption. Adoption of children related by blood or marriage or of a child over six years of age does not qualify for paid parental leave.

 

Notice. Before beginning a paid parental leave, the employee should give as much notice as is practicable of the expected start and end date for the leave, subject to later modification as necessary.

 

Duration. A paid parental leave lasts up to 12 contiguous weeks. The leave begins on the date of the birth or adoption and ends, at most, 84 consecutive calendar days later. For example, a birth or adoption occurring on Saturday, October 3, 2020, will allow a leave through Friday, December 25, 2020. An employee on paid parental leave may be absent from all regularly scheduled hours under the same conditions that would apply as if on paid sick leave. If an employee’s position is limited-term, less-than-full-time, or abolished for reasons of administrative efficiency, any entitlement ends on the final date of employment before the employee’s appointment ends or layoff begins.

 

Holidays. Paid holidays observed during a leave are recorded as paid holidays and do not extend a 12-week paid parental leave.

Pay. The employee shall receive base pay during the leave using a payroll code corresponding to the normally scheduled shift.

 

Leave and accruals. An employee need not exhaust sick and annual leave before taking a paid parental leave and continues to accrue sick and annual leave during the leave. Paid leave credits cannot be used to extend the paid parental leave beyond the 84 consecutive calendar days. Time on paid parental leave counts toward step increases if an employee is in satisfactory standing.

 

Frequency and coordination. The event of the birth or adoption of multiple children allows a single paid parental leave. If two state employees are parents for the same birth or adoption, both may take a paid parental leave of 12 weeks.

 

Coordination with other benefits. Time on paid parental leave also counts toward an employee’s FMLA and unpaid parental leave entitlements. Long-term disability (LTD) benefits are not available during a paid parental leave.