Additional Faculty Family and Medical Leave Benefits

Policy number: 2.14

Policy section: Academic Affairs

Revised Date: December 16, 2019

1.  Policy Statement

It is the policy of the University to accommodate the medical and family needs of faculty while accounting for the unique nature and timing of faculty work.

2.  Purpose

The purpose of the Additional Faculty Family and Medical Leave Benefits Policy is to describe the types of personal and family related leaves for which faculty are eligible and their respective requirements and whether such leaves are paid or unpaid. These benefits are in addition to, and not in lieu of, the benefits provided by the Family and Medical Leave Act (“FMLA”) as set forth in University Policy 7.16.

3.  Interaction with the FMLA

The FMLA grants eligible employees the right to take unpaid, job-protected leave for specified family and medical reasons. Specific information about the University’s FMLA policy and entitlements may be obtained from University Policy 7.16 and the Department of Human Resources at SMU. The leave benefits set forth in this policy shall run concurrently with the FMLA benefits provided under the FMLA and set forth in University Policy 7.16. Nothing in this Additional Faculty Family and Medical Leave Benefits policy is intended to diminish or alter any benefits due to a faculty member under the FMLA. This Policy also does not require that a faculty member take a Childbirth Leave, Parental Leave, or Short-Term Medical Leave. A faculty member may be eligible for medical leave for reasons other than the faculty member’s own serious health condition pursuant to the FMLA (as set forth in University Policy 7.16), although such leave shall be unpaid.

4.  Childbirth Leave

Full-time faculty members who are eligible for leave under the FMLA and who give birth to a child are eligible to apply for up to eight (8) weeks of paid childbirth leave. This Childbirth Leave shall run concurrently with FMLA leave. Childbirth Leave relieves the faculty member of all employment responsibilities with the University for up to an eight (8) week period, which period shall begin immediately following the birth of a child. The purpose of this leave is to allow the faculty member to recover from childbirth. Individuals who are medically unable to work during pregnancy, or who require longer to recover, may request additional paid leave under the Short-Term Medical Leave policy discussed below in Section 9 or unpaid leave under the FMLA, as set forth in University Policy 7.16.

5.  Parental Leave

Full-time faculty members (male or female) who are eligible for leave under the FMLA are eligible to apply for up to eight (8) weeks of paid parental leave due to (1) birth of a child; (2) adoption of a child five years of age or younger; or (3) placement of a foster child five years of age or younger, to allow the faculty member to bond with and care for the child. This Parental Leave shall run concurrently with FMLA leave. Parental Leave relieves the faculty member of all employment responsibilities with the University for up to an eight (8) week period. Parental leave may be taken at any time after the birth, placement or adoption of the child, provided the leave is complete by the end of one year following such birth, placement or adoption. Parental Leave may not be taken intermittently. It is requested that a satisfactory plan to fulfill teaching responsibilities during the remainder of the semester be worked out between the faculty member and the department chair in consultation with the Dean’s Office. There are a variety of different ways to fulfill these teaching responsibilities as discussed below.

6.  Procedures for Childbirth and Parental Leaves

  1. Faculty who give birth to a child may combine their eight (8) weeks of Childbirth Leave and eight (8) weeks of Parental Leave. If the Childbirth Leave and Parental Leave occur within a full semester, the faculty member is eligible for a full paid semester-long leave with no employment responsibilities. If the Childbirth Leave and Parental Leave occur over a period of two semesters, the faculty member is expected to work full-time during the weeks when they are not on leave. In developing a plan for paid leaves in multiple semesters or for Parental Leave when childbirth occurs during the summer, the faculty member and department chair should follow the principle that the faculty member who cannot combine Childbirth Leave and Parental Leave within a single semester should have the equivalent teaching load reduction as a faculty member who does combine these leaves within a single semester.
  2. Fulfilling teaching responsibilities during partial-semester paid Childbirth and/or Parental Leaves can be accommodated in a number of different ways, including but not limited to co-teaching classes, working on a special department project in lieu of teaching, or postponing the teaching of the half teaching load to a future semester or intersession without extra compensation.
  3. Alternatively, the faculty member may choose to be relieved of all responsibilities except teaching during the period of Parental Leave and teach half of the normal teaching load throughout the entire semester or reduce the entire faculty member’s workload (including teaching) by half for a full semester.
  4. Parental Leave may be combined with the remaining available weeks of unpaid FMLA Leave. A faculty member who chooses this option is eligible for a full semester with no employment responsibilities (although only part of the semester shall be paid pursuant to this policy).
  5. Childbirth and Parental leaves only provide salary replacement during periods when the faculty member would ordinarily receive pay and cannot extend beyond the appointment period. For example, a faculty member that is not scheduled to teach (and is, therefore, not paid) during the summer may not extend their Parental Leave into the summer and receive pay.
  6. For purposes of any leave under this policy, the birth, adoption or placement of more than one child at the same time constitutes a single event of birth or adoption.
  7. Where both parents of a newborn, adopted child or placed foster child are SMU faculty members, each may take the full eight (8) weeks of paid Parental Leave subject to the terms of this Policy.
  8. A faculty member on Childbirth or Parental leave is subject to the same restrictions on outside consulting and extramural activities as other full-time faculty members as set forth in University Policy 2.9, Consulting and Sponsored Projects.

7.  Application for Childbirth or Parental Leave

The process for applying for Childbirth and/or Parental Leave is as follows:

  1. A faculty member wishing to apply for Childbirth and/or Parental Leave should first notify Human Resources so that the notices and requirements of the FMLA may be satisfied as required by law.
  2. The faculty member must then apply to the Provost through his/her Department Chair and Dean for the leave to be paid pursuant to this policy. In schools without departments, the faculty member will apply for leaves to the Provost through his/her Dean.
  3. The application for Childbirth and/or Parental Leave should be submitted as early as reasonably possible, preferably four months in advance of the start of the leave, to ensure adequate time for necessary planning of budget and teaching assignments. If the leave is not for the entire semester, the application should include the plan for fulfilling teaching responsibilities worked out between the faculty member and Department Chair in consultation with the Dean or between the faculty member and Dean in schools that do not have departments.
  4. The Dean shall forward the application to the Provost along with a brief statement explaining the arrangement of teaching schedules that makes the paid leave possible and what, if any, budgetary provisions will have to be made for coverage of teaching duties during the faculty member’s leave period.
  5. Requests for exceptions to this policy must be submitted to the Dean through the Department Chair and approved in advance by the Provost.

8.  Extension of Probationary Period before Tenure for Parental Leaves

Tenure-track faculty members may seek extensions of the tenure probationary period to allow them more time to meet the normal expectations to achieve tenure. Faculty members may seek a one-year extension of the probationary period for one or two Childbirth or Parental Leaves and up to a two-year extension of the probationary period for three or more Childbirth or Parental Leaves. A woman who takes Childbirth Leave and takes Parental Leave for the same child is deemed to have taken two leaves for purposes of the extension of the probationary period under this Section 8. Tenure-track faculty members may also seek a one year postponement of the third-year review for one or more Childbirth or Parental Leaves. Extensions are at the option of the faculty member and must be requested by at least September 1 of the applicable academic year, one year before the tenure review year or the year of the third year review. Notwithstanding the foregoing, the extension of the tenure clock may not exceed two years, regardless of the combination of circumstances that resulted in the extension(s) (see University Policy 2.11, Guidelines for the Award of Rank and Tenure).

9.  Short-Term Medical Leave

Full-time faculty members who are eligible for leave under the FMLA are eligible to apply for a short-term paid medical leave due to the faculty member’s own serious health condition that makes the faculty member unable to perform his/her full-time duties. Questions regarding what qualifies as a serious health condition under FMLA and this policy should be directed to Human Resources. Short-Term Medical Leave shall run concurrently with FMLA leave.

During an approved Short-Term Medical Leave, the faculty member will continue to receive his/her regular base salary as specified under contract and will continue to be eligible for coverage under SMU’s benefits plan under the same conditions as before the leave. The length of the Short-Term Medical Leave is for the duration of the employee’s serious health condition or one semester, whichever is shorter. An employee with a serious medical condition may be eligible for a continuing disability payment at partial salary through the University’s Long-Term Disability Plan administered through SMU’s Department of Human Resources.   

Tenure-track faculty may be eligible for an extension of the probationary period for a Short-Term Medical Leave (see University Policy 2.11, Guidelines for the Award of Rank and Tenure).

10.  Application for Short-Term Medical Leave

The process for applying for Short-Term Medical Leave is as follows:

  1. A faculty member wishing to apply for Short-Term Medical Leave should first notify Human Resources so that the notices and requirements of the FMLA may be satisfied as required by law.
  2. The faculty member must then apply to the Provost through his/her Department Chair and Dean for the leave to be paid pursuant to this policy. In schools without departments, the faculty member will apply for leaves to the Provost through his/her Dean.
  3. The application for Short-Term Medical Leave should take place as soon as is reasonably possible given the particular health condition. The faculty member should specify the approximate duration of the leave, which information will also ‎be provided to the Department Chair and/or Dean.‎
  4. The Dean shall forward the application to the Provost along with a brief statement explaining the ‎arrangement of teaching schedules that makes the paid leave possible and what, if any, budgetary ‎provisions will have to be made for coverage of teaching duties during the faculty member’s leave ‎period‎. The faculty member should specify the approximate duration of the leave, which information will also be provided to the Department Chair and/or Dean. Teaching duties outside the leave period should be worked out between the faculty member and Department Chair in consultation with the Dean.
  5. SMU reserves the right to require that an employee on Short-Term Medical Leave re-certify the faculty member’s medical incapacity on a monthly basis or alternatively within the time limit allowed under the FMLA. In addition, SMU may request more frequent recertification if circumstances described by the original certification have changed, or SMU receives information that casts doubts upon the continuing validity of the certification. Further, SMU may request an independent medical exam from an independent physician of its choice. SMU will pay the cost of the independent examiner as it deems necessary.
  6. If the health condition underlying a requested Short-Term Medical Leave results from an automobile accident or some other event for which a third-party (including an insurance company) might be responsible for paying lost wages, payment of Short-Term Medical Leave will be secondary to payments by the third-party. In such cases, SMU may require proof that the third-party has not made and will not be making any payment for lost wages. If a faculty member receives lost wages and/or benefits or a lost wages/benefits settlement from a third-party after the payment of Short-Term Medical Leave, the faculty member will be responsible for reimbursing SMU for the amount paid in salary and benefits during Short-Term Medical leave.
  7. A faculty member is not eligible for a Short-Term Medical Leave due to an on-the-job injury or illness for which they are eligible for workers’ compensation payments.

 

11.  Unpaid Family, Medical and Personal Leaves

A faculty member not eligible for leave under one of the policies set forth herein may be eligible for unpaid FMLA pursuant to University Policy 7.16 or personal leave under one of SMU’s other policies. Inquiries about a faculty member’s leave options should be directed to Human Resources.

 

12.  Questions

Questions regarding this policy are to be directed to Human Resources or the Office of the Provost.

Revised: December 16, 2019

Adopted: June 1, 1994

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