Parental Leave
The Parental Leave policy provides eligible faculty and staff with paid leave for the birth or adoption of a child(ren) up to six (6) years of age, or the placement of a foster child(ren) at any age.
Benefits eligible faculty and staff members who are appointed to regular positions of 48% or greater FTE and have completed twelve (12) months of service in such positions with a State of Kansas agency.
Eligible faculty and staff may request Parental Leave for the birth, adoption, or foster of a child(ren) by completing the Parental Leave Request form. Faculty and staff are urged to request Parental Leave with as much advance notice as possible so units/departments can plan for coverage. The leave will be paid at the regular rate of pay and must be taken within the twelve (12) weeks immediately following the date of the child(ren)’s birth or the adoption/foster placement date. For faculty and staff who assume placement of a foster child(ren), the ability to use paid parental leave will be limited each calendar year to a total of eight weeks for the primary caregiver and four weeks for the secondary caregiver. Such leave can be used for a single placement or for multiple placements.
Faculty and staff may request Parental Leave if they have twelve (12) months or more of State service with a benefits eligible appointment. For part-time faculty and staff (of 48% FTE or greater), Parental Leave shall be pro-rated to the part-time appointment for the applicable time period.
Leave Period:
If the paid Parental Leave is approved by Human Resources, the paid Parental Leave may be taken concurrently, consecutively, 30 days in advance for FMLA qualifying events related to the birth/placement of a child(ren), or at different times intermittently within the twelve (12) week period immediately following the qualifying event.
Faculty and staff requesting parental leave, will be required to self-identify as a primary or secondary caregiver. A parent designated as primary caregiver will receive up to eight (8) weeks of paid Parental Leave and a parent designated as secondary caregiver will receive up to four (4) weeks of paid Parental Leave. If both parents are employees and eligible for paid parental leave, one employee must be designated as the primary caregiver and one must be designated as the secondary caregiver. The fact that a multiple birth or adoption occurs (i.e., the birth, adoption, or placement of twins) does not increase the length of paid Parental Leave for that event.
Faculty and staff will continue to accrue paid leave for which they are eligible during the Parental Leave period. Official and observed holidays do not count against paid Parental Leave. Employees utilizing paid Parental Leave on an official or observed holiday shall receive holiday credit.
Faculty and staff may be permitted to take leave of other types (i.e., sick leave and vacation leave) in addition to the eight (8) or four (4) weeks of paid Parental Leave, in accordance with other applicable Kansas Board of Regents and University policies. Nothing in this policy shall be construed as prohibiting the granting of additional leave beyond that permitted by this policy, or from reassigning eligible faculty or staff member’s duties as related to the Parental Leave.
Any paid Parental Leave shall run concurrently with leave permitted under the Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA), if applicable, or 30 days in advance for FMLA qualifying events related to the birth/placement of a child(ren).
Service as an “affiliate” does not count toward eligibility for Parental Leave.
Faculty and staff receiving Workers' Compensation payments are not eligible for Parental Leave.
Paid Parental Leave only applies during periods when the employee is in paid status. Employees on academic year or less than twelve (12) month appointments may not request or receive paid Parental Leave for periods when not in a paid status.
Paid Parental Leave under this policy is not transferrable and cannot be donated through a shared leave program or in any other way. Any amount of paid Parental Leave not utilized by the eligible employee in the twelve (12) week period immediately following the qualifying event shall be forfeited.
This policy does not apply to employees represented by bargaining units until ratified by the bargaining unit.
Paid parental leave due to the placement of a child(ren) through foster care is only eligible for qualifying events occurring on or after September 19, 2021.
Qualifying events occurring prior to September 19, 2021, are eligible for six (6) weeks of paid parental leave for the primary care giver and three (3) weeks of paid parental leave for the secondary care giver. Qualifying events on or after September 19, 2021, are eligible for eight (8) weeks of paid parental leave for the primary care giver and four (4) weeks of paid parental leave for the secondary care giver.
Human Resources
103 Carruth-O’Leary Hall
1246 W. Campus Road
Lawrence, KS 66045
785-864-4946
hrdept@ku.edu
A faculty or staff member is benefits eligible when appointed to a regular position with 48% or greater FTE in a State of Kansas agency.
Parents are defined as persons who have care giving and financial support roles for a child(ren) who is newly born, adopted, or placed through foster care.
Primary caregiver is the parent with chief responsibility for care of the child(ren) whereas the secondary caregiver performs that parental role to a lesser degree.
11/22/2021: Updated Parental Leave Request form.
09/17/2021: Updated policy to reflect new KBOR parental leave policy.
06/13/2019: New policy created to comply with KBOR parental leave policy.
