Memorandum

Paid Parental Leave

As discussed in the 3D memo dated November 5, 2019, the Board of Governors has approved a new Paid Parental Leave Policy for the UNC System.  After incorporating input from key stakeholders, the UNC System Office has released the final guidelines. The final guidelines require all UNC System institutions to implement Paid Parental Leave no earlier than January 1, 2020 and no later than April 30, 2020.

Implementation

NC State University recognizes that benefit eligible SHRA and leave earning EHRA employees will want to utilize this benefit immediately. In order to support new parents across our campus community, NC State University will be implementing the new Paid Parental Leave benefit beginning January 1, 2020.

The Paid Parental Leave will provide:

1. Eight (8) weeks of paid parental leave for the birth parent, providing the first four (4) weeks for recuperation immediately following the birth and
2. Four (4) weeks of paid parental leave for the non-birth parent, as well as for adoptions, foster care, or other legal placement of a child.

Eligibility

An employee’s eligibility for Paid Parental Leave shall be based upon meeting the following requirements:

1. The employee is in a full-time or part-time (half-time or more) permanent, probationary, or time-limited benefits eligible position,
2. The employee has been continuously employed by the State of North Carolina for the immediate twelve (12) preceding months, and
3. The employee has been in a pay status for at least 1,040 hours in the previous twelve-month period.

Please Note: Temporary positions, to include Postdoctoral/House Officers, are not eligible for the Paid Parental Leave program, however, temporary employees may use that time of service in determining the 12 months of continuous employment eligibility for Paid Parental Leave so long as the employee is in a permanent, probationary, or time-limited position at the time of the qualifying event.

Relationship to Faculty Serious Illness and Disability Leave

Non-leave earning faculty covered by Sections 300.2.11 and 300.2.11[G] of the UNC Policy Manual, and any other faculty who are covered by their institution’s Faculty Serious Illness and Disability Leave program, are not covered by this regulation. More information about this policy is available at:

https://policies.ncsu.edu/policy/pol-05-30-01/

 Important Leave Usage Information

1. Each week of Paid Parental Leave will be compensated at 100% of the employee’s regular straight-time weekly pay.
2. Employees must use the Paid Parental Leave for continuous blocks of up to four weeks.
3. Leave for part-time employees will be prorated based upon corresponding percentage of hours of work they are normally scheduled.
4. Paid Parental Leave must be used within the first twelve (12) months following a qualifying event.
5. Paid Parental Leave must run concurrently with Family & Medical Leave and must be applied to absences prior to the employee using any available personal leave (vacation, bonus, sick, etc), or other accrued paid time off, or leave without pay.
6. Paid Parental Leave cannot be used prior to the birth or legal placement of a child.
7. If both parents work for NC State, each is independently eligible to use Paid Parental Leave; the leave benefit is not combined for the parents for a qualifying event.
8. Eligibility for Paid Parental Leave ends if an employee transfers to a non-benefit eligible position/appointment or to a non-participating institution.
9. Paid Parental Leave is not paid out at separation from employment and cannot be donated to other employees.

Retroactivity

The new Paid Parental Leave Policy includes a provision for addressing qualifying events that have occurred since the September 1, 2019 effective date. If a benefit eligible employee had a qualifying event that occurred on or after September 1, 2019, and met the eligibility requirements as of the date of the event, the employee will be eligible to receive four (4) weeks of Paid Parental Leave for purposes of bonding, beginning January 1, 2020 and expiring twelve (12) months from the time of the qualifying event date.

 Requesting Paid Parental Leave

NC State University Human Resources, along with campus stakeholders, have been developing a dedicated benefits web page with important information, links to the system policy, FAQ’s, and an online request form. Development is continuing on the web page and online request form.

In order to expedite, January 2020 retroactive Paid Parental Leave requests, the online Paid Parental Leave Request Form is scheduled for release on December 16, 2019. All Paid Parental Leave requests must be submitted through the online request form. More information will be shared closer to the launch of the new online request form.

Leave Validation and Certification

Benefit eligible employees will be required to certify that they will use Paid Parental Leave for giving birth to a child for bonding. In addition, all benefit eligible employees will need to provide documentation of the qualifying event (Birth Certificate, Adoption and foster care paperwork) prior to the leave being approved.

Additional Information

For more information or questions regarding the new policy, please email University Human Resources at paid-parental-lv@ncsu.edu.  The full Paid Parental Leave Policy and Guidelines can be viewed at: University-Paid Parental Leave Policy

Annual Raise Process (ARP) Update

At this time, House Bill 966, 2019 Appropriations Act, has not been enacted into law.  The North Carolina General Assembly is in recess until January 2020.  We will provide Annual Raise Process (ARP) and Bonus Leave updates as they become available from the UNC System Office.  For more information, please contact Lori Preiss, Director of Classification and Compensation at lapreiss@ncsu.edu.

 

cc:        Warwick A. Arden, Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost

Charles A. Maimone, Vice Chancellor, Finance and Administration

Barbara Moses, Associate Vice Chancellor, Budget and Resource Management

Margaret Erickson, Assistant Vice Chancellor, HR Operations