Table of Contents
General
Covered Leaves
Maternity Leave
Paternity Leave
Adoption Leave
Family Leave
Medical Leave
Eligibility
The 12-Month Period
Spousal Exception
Intermittent Leave
Definitions
"Family
Member"
"Serious Health Condition"
"Health
Care Provider"
Procedures for Requesting Leave
Request for Leave
Procedure by Employee
Scheduling
Benefits Office Notification
Proof
Medical Certification
Second Opinions
Medical Recertification
Transfer to Alternative Position
Confidentiality
Substitution of Sick Leave and Vacation Time
Maternity Leave
Paternity, Adoption, and Family Leaves
Medical
Leave
Benefits
Health
Benefits
Other
Benefits
Reinstatement
General
Medical
Certification
Periodic Reporting
COBRA
Repayment of Premiums
Failure
to Return to Work
Introduction
Boston College understands the importance
of family issues to today's workforce and recognizes that its
employees often face conflicting demands of family obligations and
work requirements. Because employees may find it necessary to take
leave from their jobs for a temporary period to address certain
family responsibilities or their own serious health conditions, and
in order to comply with the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993
(FMLA), the University has established the following policy governing
parental, family, and medical leaves.
-
Covered Leaves
-
Maternity Leave
Upon the birth of a child, the mother is entitled to a leave for up to 12 consecutive weeks. The first eight weeks will be considered as paid medical leave related to childbirth, and the employee will receive her regular pay for that period, provided she has completed at least eight months of continuous service at a minimum of 20 hours per week. (An employee with less than eight months' service will be entitled to one week of paid medical leave for each full month of continuous servic) The eight-week paid leave will not apply to periods when the employee would otherwise not be working - for example, in the case of an academic year position where the eight-week period extends into the summer. The paid period is not extended by the occurrence of any holidays that fall within the first eight weeks. The remainder of the leave may be paid or unpaid (see Section IV-Substitution of Sick Leave and Vacation Time).
Paternity Leave
Upon the birth of a child, the father is entitled to a maximum leave of 12 consecutive weeks, within the 12-month period following birth, a portion of which may be paid (see Section IV).
Adoption Leave (including foster care placement)
Employees will be granted up to 12 weeks of leave to care for an adopted child within the 12-month period following the adoption or placement. Normally, the leave must be taken all at one time, but alternative arrangements will be considered if necessary to comply with court or agency requirements. (See Section IV for paid vs. unpaid provisions.)
Family Leave
Employees will be eligible for up to 12 weeks of leave during a 12-month period to care for a "family member" with a "serious health condition" (see Section II- Definitions and Section IV).
Medical Leave
An eligible employee will be entitled to 12 weeks of leave if a "serious health condition" renders the employee unable to perform his or her job functions. This leave will be coordinated with the University's sick leave and short-term disability policies (see Section IV). Employees are limited to a maximum of 12 weeks' leave for any of the above purposes. For example, a person cannot take 12 weeks' parental leave and 12 weeks' paid sick leave during the same 12-month period.
Eligibility
An employee is eligible if he or she has been employed by the
University for at least 12 months and has worked at least 1,250
hours during the 12-month period prior to the time leave would
begin under this policy. Hours are calculated based upon actual
hours worked, including overtim Note: Employees eligible for
FMLA leave must also be eligible for the University's benefit
programs in order to be entitled to any paid leave referenced in
this policy. Otherwise, the entire FMLA leave will be unpaid.
The 12-Month Period
Available leave will be calculated by determining the amount of
leave used by an employee for the 12 months prior to the period
for which leave is requested and subtracting that number from the
total days equal to 12 work weeks. Employees will be advised when
requesting leave of the amount of FMLA leave they have
available.
Spousal Exception
If a husband and wife both work for Boston College, and are
eligible for leave, they are only entitled to a combined 12 work
weeks of leave taken for birth, adoption, foster care, and to care
for a parent. Both employees are entitled to the full 12 weeks for
their own illness or to care for a sick child or spouse.
Intermittent Leave
An employee taking leave for personal illness or to care for a
sick family member may take it on an intermittent basis, or by
reducing scheduled work hours, if medical certification is
provided that leave must be taken in that manner.
-
"Family Member"
"Family member" is defined as the employee's spouse, son, daughter or parent (but not a parent "in-law"). A "son" or "daughter" is any child under 18 who is the biological child of the employee, who is adopted by the employee, or whom the employee supervises on a day to day basis and for whom the employee is financially responsibl A "son" or "daughter" is also a child over 18 who is incapable of self-care because of a mental or physical disability. A parent is any individual who assumed day to day and financial responsibility for the employee when the employee was a child.
"Serious Health Condition"
"Serious health condition" is defined as an illness, injury,
impairment or physical or mental condition that involves a period
of incapacity or treatment following in-patient care in a
hospital, hospice, or residential medical care facility; a period
of incapacity requiring more than three days' absence from work
and continuing treatment by a health care provider; or continuing
treatment by a health care provider for a chronic or long-term
health condition that is so serious that, if not treated, would
likely result in incapacity of more than three days; or continuing
treatment by or under the supervision of a health care provider
for a chronic or long-term condition or disability that is
incurable; or pre-natal care.
"Health Care Provider"
The definition of "health care provider" includes physicians,
podiatrist, dentists, clinical psychologists, optometrists,
chiropractors (for certain treatments), Christian Science
practitioners, nurse practitioners and nurse midwives performing
within the scope of their practice as defined under state and
federal regulations.
Procedures for Requesting
Leave
-
Request for Leave
- Procedure by
Employee
All requests for leave under this policy should ordinarily be initiated in writing through the employee's supervisor, with a copy to the Benefits Manager. If an employee has any questions or any problems obtaining approval for the leave, or needs further information about his or her rights under this law, the employee should contact the Benefits Office.
Scheduling
When the leave is foreseeable, an employee must give Boston College thirty (30) days advance notic When the leave is not foreseeable, notice should be given as soon as possibl In the case of medical emergencies the employee or a family member should contact the department supervisor by telephone as soon as possibl A formal request for leave should then be submitted in writing as soon as practicabl In addition, when the leave is for planned medical treatment, the employee must make a reasonable effort to schedule the treatment so as not to unduly disrupt the department's operation.
Benefits Office Notification
After receiving a request for leave, the Benefits Office will provide a notice detailing specific expectations and obligations of the employee, as well as any additional information that may be required.
-
Medical Certification
For leaves involving serious health conditions, the University may require verification of necessity for family or medical leave by a health care provider. The information required shall include: * the date on which the serious health condition commenced and the probable duration of the condition; * appropriate medical facts within the knowledge of the health care provider that would entitle the employee to take family or medical leave; and * an estimate of the amount of time that the employee is needed to care for a family member, or a statement explaining the extent to which the employee is unable to perform the functions of his/her position. Certifications must be submitted within 15 days of the date requested by the University.
Second Opinions
The University has the option of requiring the employee to get
a second opinion from an independent medical provider selected
and paid for by Boston Colleg If the two opinions conflict,
the issue may be resolved by a third opinion from a provider
agreed to by the University and the employee which shall be
considered final and binding. Boston College will pay for the
third opinion.
Medical Recertification
During a leave, Boston College reserves the right to request
recertification of the medical condition that caused the
employee to take the leave.
Transfer to Alternative Position
The University reserves the right to transfer an employee to
another position whenever an employee's use of leave for one or
more qualifying reasons is so frequent and intermittent that it is
impossible to predict and schedule for coverage.
Confidentiality
Boston College will keep confidential all information relating to
requests for family or medical leav This information will be
used only to make decisions in regard to the provisions of this
policy. Supervisors should not retain any copies of relevant
records in their files.
Substitution of
Sick Leave and Vacation Time
-
Maternity Leave
As noted above, the first eight weeks of maternity leave will be considered as paid medical leave related to childbirth. The remainder of the leave will be unpaid, unless the employee is medically disabled and is due payments under the University's sick leave and short-term disability policies, or, if not disabled, unless the employee has accrued vacation time, in which case the vacation time must be applied toward the leave.
Paternity, Adoption, and Family
Leaves
Paternity and adoption leaves and leaves taken to care for a
family member with a serious health condition will be unpaid, with
the following exceptions: Under the University's sick leave
policy, employees are permitted to use up to five days of sick
leave per year to care for ill members of their immediate family.
Those five days, if not previously used, may be applied toward the
FMLA leave under this section. The employee's department may
require that any accrued vacation time be used as part of the FMLA
leave before the unpaid leave begins.
Medical Leave
Employees on leave due to a serious health condition will be
entitled to pay in accordance with the University's sick leave and
short-term disability polices. Any portion of a medical leave not
covered by those policies will be unpaid unless the employee
elects to use accrued vacation time.
-
Health Benefits
During the leave, the University will maintain the employee's medical and dental coverage, provided the employee continues to pay his or her normal portion of the premiums. In the case of paid leave, the premiums will be deducted from the employee's checks. During unpaid leave, the employee will be required to submit checks, payable to Boston College, to the Benefits Office by the first of each month. If the employee fails to make the required payments for health coverage within 30 days of the date that such payments are due, health coverage will be discontinued.
Other Benefits
Other, non-health, benefits will be
treated the same way during an FMLA leave as they are during other
approved leaves without pay. Group Life Insurance will continue at
no cost to the employe Disability Insurance will only continue
if the FMLA leave is for maternity purposes or the employee's own
illness. Tuition remission benefits will continu Retirement Plan
contributions will cease during an unpaid leav Employees do not
accrue vacation or sick time while on an unpaid FMLA leav
Employees on an intermittent or reduced-scheduled leave will
accrue vacation and sick time at the same rate as part-time
employees working similar schedules.
-
General
An employee taking leave under this policy will be returned to the same position or to an equivalent position, unless the employee would have been terminated in the absence of any leave (g., layoff, downsizing, or termination of a temporary job). Taking a leave will not result in any loss of benefits or conditions of employment accrued prior to the beginning of the leave period, unless the benefit or condition of employment was discontinued or changed for other employees during the leave period.
Medical Certification
Boston College reserves the right to require a medical
certification or a medical examination, at its expense, to ensure
that employees returning from leave for a serious health condition
can safely perform all the functions of the job.
Periodic Reporting
Employees on leave are expected to maintain contact with their
supervisor on a periodic basis (at least monthly) regarding their
status and intent to return from leave.
COBRA
Upon notification that the employee is not returning from leave,
Boston College shall terminate the employee's health benefits, and
he or she shall be entitled to continuation of health benefits
only in accordance with the Consolidated Omnibus Budget
Reconciliation Act ("COBRA") and the provisions of the health
plan.
Repayment of Premiums
Employees who return to work should contact the Benefits Office to
verify whether all required health premium payments are up-to-date
and, if not, to work out an appropriate payment arrangement.
Should the employee not return to employment with Boston College
upon expiration of the leave, he or she shall owe the cost of any
health benefits provided during the leave, including both the
employer and employee premiums.
Failure to Return to Work
Employees who fail to return to work after FMLA leave shall be
treated as having voluntarily terminated their employment.
General Provisions
Boston College is the sole administrator of this policy and is the exclusive
interpreter of its terms. All provisions of this policy shall be interpreted
consistent with the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993. The University reserves
the right to modify or terminate this policy at any tim Except as otherwise
stated, this policy is not intended to create any rights greater than those
conferred on employees by the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993.
December 1993
September 1993