Claremont McKenna College
Faculty Parental Leave Policy

Purpose
Parental leave is designed to provide partial paid time off for full time CMC faculty members following the birth, adoption or foster placement of a child, in order to care for said child. Parental leaves for the birth or adoption of a child are limited to one leave per event for each full time CMC faculty member. Multiple births (e.g., twins, triplets) and the adoption of more than one child through a single adoption proceeding, in each case, is deemed to be one "event." Parental leave for the placement of a foster child in the faculty member's home is limited to one event during a person's employment with CMC. The placement for foster care of more than one child through a single foster placement or proceeding is deemed to be one "event." Parental leave may be taken by either parent.

Effective Date
This policy is effective: October 14, 2002

Eligibility
Regular, full-time tenured or tenure-track faculty members of either gender with one year or more of service. Faculty on a leave of absence that is not provided under federal or state law are not eligible for this benefit. If both parents are employed by Claremont McKenna College they are requested to take their parental leaves at different times so that both are not out at the same time.

Leave Options for the Birth or Adoption of a Child
Faculty members are entitled to choose one of the following benefits in the case of a birth or adoption event:

1. A one course reduction in teaching load for one semester with full pay.



2. A full semester leave compensated at 75% of the faculty member's semester salary with full benefits. Retirement plan contributions will be based on the amount of salary actually paid. For employees disabled by pregnancy, short-term disability (VDI) benefits will be paid during the pregnancy disability leave period in addition to the 75% of regular salary. This will provide employees disabled by pregnancy with approximately 100% of their regular salary during the pregnancy disability period. Employees disabled by pregnancy are required to apply for benefits under short-term disability (VDI) during the pregnancy disability leave period. At the end of pregnancy disability leave, salary will continue at 75% of regular salary for the duration of the semester the employee disabled by pregnancy is on leave.



3. At the request of the faculty member and with the approval of the member's department chair and the Dean of the Faculty, an alternative leave arrangement may be negotiated for the mutual convenience of the faculty member and the College.

Leave Options for the Foster Placement of a Child
Faculty members are entitled to paid parental leave benefits under this policy once during their employment with CMC to care for the foster placement of a child in his or her home (or more than one child through a single placement or proceeding). If, however, any such foster placement results in the adoption of the child (or all children placed in the home through a single placement or proceeding), the adopting faculty member will not be precluded from:

• taking parental leave benefits under this policy for one subsequent foster placement arising during the faculty member's employment with CMC; and
• taking parental leave benefits under this policy associated with any such adoption provided that no parental leave benefits were taken in connection with the earlier foster care placement.

Nothing contained herein shall be deemed to limit or restrict parental leave benefits provided for under applicable state or federal law including, without limitation, parental leave benefits provided under state law for foster care placement on multiple occasions.

Faculty members are entitled to choose one of the following benefits once during their employment in the case of a foster care event:

1. A one course reduction in teaching load for one semester with full pay.



2. A full semester leave compensated at 75% of the faculty member's semester salary with full benefits. Retirement plan contributions will be based on the amount of salary actually paid.



3. At the request of the faculty member and with the approval of the member's department chair and the Dean of the Faculty, an alternative leave arrangement may be negotiated for the mutual convenience of the faculty member and the College.

Time Requirements, Proof, and General Provisions under State and Federal Law
Any such leave must be concluded within the 12-month period following the birth, adoption or foster placement event. Evidence of the birth, adoption, or foster placement event will be required. This is commonly a birth certificate or appropriate court documents. The pay the faculty person will receive will correspond to the individual's normal rate of pay for that period and will be subject to all standard withholdings and authorized deductions. In all these options, it is assumed that the faculty member will try to make himself or herself available for advice and assistance to students should the need arise.

Statutory Leave
Faculty members are also entitled to up to 12 work weeks of unpaid leave per year under the Family Medical Leave (FMLA) and under the California Family Rights Act (CFRA) for the birth, adoption or placement for foster-care of a child. To be eligible for FMLA and CFRA, the faculty member must have at least one year of service at CMC and have provided at least 1,250 hours of service immediately prior to the leave. Faculty members who are disabled by pregnancy may also be entitled to up to four months of unpaid leave under the California Pregnancy Disability Leave law (PDL), as required by law. A faculty member's time off under CFRA will not run concurrently with time off under PDL, however, a faculty member's time off under FMLA will run concurrently with time off under CFRA or PDL, whichever has been used first. All paid time taken off under the Faculty Parental Leave Policy will run concurrently with any applicable statutory leaves (FMLA, CFRA & PDL). The provisions of the Claremont McKenna Family & Medical Leave policy apply to any time off due to family or medical leave (including pregnancy disability leave and leave for the birth of the child, as defined by the policy), even if that period of time is also covered by the Faculty Parental Leave Policy.

Replacements
Faculty members should expect to arrange their teaching schedule to exercise option 2 in a semester in which they would have a lighter teaching load (normally defined as two courses). In departments in which such an arrangement is not practical, the Dean of the Faculty and department chair will work to arrange the course loading in an equitable manner.

Notification and Requirements
In order to facilitate planning, the faculty member should notify the department chair and the Dean of the Faculty as soon a possible to arrange for the appropriate paid parental leave under this policy, but not later than four months prior to the expected beginning of the leave or as soon as the date of adoption or foster placement is known, when it is less than four months.

Tenure and Sabbatical Considerations
Under the parental leave policy, an untenured faculty member may elect to have the tenure clock delayed for a maximum period of one year. All requests must be made in writing to the Dean of the Faculty prior to the leave commencing. The tenure clock cannot be stopped for more than one year during a faculty member's employment at CMC. Any leave in which the faculty member does not have teaching or administrative obligations to the College, will not ordinarily count toward time of service for a sabbatical leave. When partial leaves are taken which constitute less than a 50% reduction in workload, as under option 1, or when no subsequent period of unpaid leave is taken, time of service shall count as if there had been no leave. When special arrangements are negotiated, as under option 3, sabbatical credit shall be allocated under the principle that when a 50% or greater workload is carried the faculty member has reason to expect that there will be no delay in the normal sabbatical clock because of the leave, although it is understood that faculty members may be asked to delay taking a sabbatical for other reasons.

Benefits
Benefits will continue during this period. The faculty person will continue to be responsible for his/her portion of the premium payment. Retirement benefits will continue as well, but the College's contribution to the retirement plan will be based on the amount of salary actually paid.

Return to Work
Faculty are required to return to their regular teaching load upon the completion of their leave.