Parental Leave: OPEIU Employees

Parental Leave is an extended period of time away from work with benefits (with or without pay) to those employees who become parents through childbirth, adoption, or foster care placement, provided the employee has been employed at least one year and has been paid for at least 1,250 hours during the previous 12-month period.  

Employees who have no leave entitlement or have very limited amount of paid leave to use may be eligible for unpaid leave up to 12 weeks with ACA benefits and job rights for pregnancy related conditions. Please contact Benefits Services of the Office of Human Resources for further guidance and assistance. 

Because pregnancy is a serious health condition, employees should request parental leave as soon as it is known it will be used.

1. Review the PASSHE FMLA Notice to OPEIU Employees and Employee Rights and Responsibilities under FMLA.
2. Complete the Request for FMLA Leave form. Please indicate plans for extended leave following the birth/adoption/foster care placement of the child, including amount of Annual Leave or Unpaid Leave to be used.
3. Have your healthcare provider complete the FMLA Employee Serious Health Condition Certification form. Note: Healthcare providers may charge a fee to complete forms necessary for FMLA certification.
4. Return both completed forms to the Office of Human Resources c/o Benefits Manager for review at least 30 days prior to your due date. A designation notice will be sent to you with approval determination and further instructions on leave continuation.
5. Submit a Release to Return to Work form from your healthcare provider to your supervisor and the Office of Human Resources upon release to return to work by your physician.
6. Entry into ESS/Timesheet is not required by the employee.

For adoption or foster care placement, Parental Leave begins once custody/placement begins, except when required for prior legal proceedings.

1. Review the PASSHE FMLA Notice to OPEIU Employees and Employee Rights and Responsibilities under FMLA.
2. Complete the Request for FMLA Leave form. Please indicate plans for extended leave following the birth/adoption/foster care placement of the child, including amount of Annual Leave or Unpaid Leave to be used.
3. Return the completed form to the Office of Human Resources c/o Benefits Manager for review at least 30 days prior to adoption/placement. A designation notice will be sent to you with approval determination and further instructions on leave continuation.
4. Entry into ESS/Timesheet is not required by the employee.

This will depend on individual circumstances and the supporting medical documentation completed by the health care provider.

Should your doctor deem it medically necessary for you to stop working prior to childbirth, this is considered Sick Leave. and may be covered by FMLA.  Employees with less than one (1) year of service may only request to use Sick Leave that has been earned to date. Employees with more than one (1) year of service may request to use Sick Leave that is expected to be earned in the current calendar year. Your doctor needs to provide medical documentation, which should be submitted to the Office of Human Resources.

For adoption or foster care placement, leave begins once custody/placement begins, except when required for prior legal proceedings.

1. If adding the child to your healthcare, the employee should complete the Medical Enrollment Change Form and bring it to the Office of Human Resources with the original birth certificate/adoption papers/foster care papers within 60 days of birth. 
2. To add voluntary group life coverage for your new child, complete the VGLI Enrollment form and the Evidence of Insurability (EOI) form on the PASSHE VGLIP website.
3. For childbirth, submit updated medical documentation to the Office of Human Resources regarding your post-partum recovery period and expected release to return to full-time work date.

This will depend on individual circumstances and available paid leave. Once available paid leave has been exhausted, the remaining time off from work will be unpaid leave. Any remaining unused FMLA entitlement will apply. Please contact Benefits Services of the Office of Human Resources for further guidance and assistance.

Please refer to the PASSHE FMLA Notice to OPEIU Employees, section titled, "Absences After 12 Weeks of FMLA Absence".

• Employees are entitled up to nine (9) months of extended leave without pay (LWOP) absence when the absence is full-time and contiguous to the expiration of the FMLA absence.
• Employees must request the extended LWOP in writing, and for sick or family care reasons, proof of the need for continuing absence must be provided on the Serious Health Condition Certification form. Note: Only one occasion within a rolling year will be approved.
• If eligibility is established, requests for intermittent or reduced-time FMLA absences after the first 12 weeks of absence in a rolling year, shall be approved only when the employee has a catastrophic illness or injury that poses a direct threat to life or to the vital function of major bodily systems or organs as determined and approved by the State System's Central Administration, of which all decisions will be final and may not be grieved. In addition, all accrued and anticipated paid leave that was not used at the commencement of the absence must be used prior to the use of the extended leave without pay.

Please refer to the PASSHE FMLA Notice to OPEIU Employees, section titled, "Benefits Continuation Information".

• Annual and sick leave continue to accrue based on regular hours paid.
• Holidays will be earned provided the employee is in a paid status the half day before and half day after the holiday.
• Group life insurance coverage will continue to be University paid during an FMLA absence and the first 182 days of extended LWOP absence
• Medical, dental, vision and group life insurance benefits through the State System will continue during the 12 weeks of an FMLA absence and the first 14 weeks of extended leave without pay, as long as the employee continues to pay any applicable employee share of premiums. Missed premiums will be billed by the Central office of the State System. Employees must contact their University Human Resource office to add any new dependents to the medical and/or dental and vision benefits within 60 days of birth or assuming custody of a child.
• In accordance with the Affordable Care Act, you may be eligible to enroll in the State System's ACA health plan upon the expiration of the 14 week benefit eligible period of extended leave without pay and during the 13 week LWOP for employees with less than one year of employment. The ACA health plan is the Highmark PPO plan, which includes prescription drug coverage. The cost of the ACA PPO plan is not subsidized by the State System; if you elect coverage in this plan you will be paying the full plan cost.