A review of the university’s Family and Medical Leave Act policy for staff resulted in its first update in more than ten years. The revised policy, available on the Finance and Administration Policy Database, includes an expansion of the allowed use of sick leave during FMLA leave and also aligns to Lehigh’s new Paid Parental Leave policy.
“With the addition of our Paid Parental Leave policy for staff, we determined it was the perfect time to revisit some of our past practices with regard to FMLA,” noted Director of Benefits Patricia Florkowski. “The updates in this policy are also carried through in a revised sick leave policy that aligns with these changes.”
About FMLA
The Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 (FMLA) is a federal law that provides workers with protections when they need to take an extended period of leave to care for themselves or a close family member. FMLA ensures that a worker’s insurance benefits will continue and that they retain the same or equivalent employment upon return to work. The duration of FMLA coverage is 12 weeks during any 12-month period in most situations. The duration increases to 26 weeks if the person being cared for is a covered servicemember.
Under the law, FMLA leave is not a paid leave type. Lehigh permits staff to take unpaid FMLA leave or substitute a paid leave type running concurrently (at the same time) depending on their circumstances.
Changes to Use of Paid Leave
Prior to enacting this revised policy, benefits eligible staff could use vacation and floating holiday leave as their paid leave during FMLA leave in all circumstances. However, they could only use sick leave if they were taking FMLA leave to care for their own health.
Our newly revised Family and Medical Leave Act policy expands the use of sick leave to all approved FMLA circumstances. This means regardless of whether you are taking FMLA to care for yourself or to care for a close family member, you may use sick leave as paid leave during your FMLA leave.
“Staff acquire ten sick days (two weeks) per year in the first five years of their employment at Lehigh and 15 days (three weeks) per year thereafter, and they can carry forward up to nine weeks per year, for a possible maximum of twelve weeks per year,” Patricia explained. “Since this aligns with FMLA maximums and sick leave is a type of leave that is equal across staff members, we believe expanding its applicability to all FMLA leave circumstances creates more equity in our leave policies.”
Other Paid Leave Options
Short Term Disability: When a staff member needs to be absent for their own illness, injury, or surgery recovery, and when that absence is expected to last longer than 10 work days, they must apply for Short Term Disability. Short Term Disability, when approved, provides partial or full salary continuation, dependent upon years of service and the length of the leave. Employees receiving less than full salary continuation can then supplement that paid leave with their sick leave to bring their compensation to 100%.
Paid Parental Leave: Lehigh’s Paid Parental Leave policy for staff provides six weeks of full or partially paid leave to eligible staff who meet the service requirement and are welcoming a child into their family. The amount of salary continuation is dependent upon years of service with Lehigh, and can be supplemented with paid leave balances to bring pay to 100% depending on the staff member’s circumstances. For birthing parents, an additional six weeks of Short Term Disability is available.
For More Information
“We know it can be a stressful time in your life when you need to take an extended period away from work,” Patricia noted. “Our benefits team is here to help you work through your leave options and find the right path to take.”
To review the full array of leave benefits provided to employees at Lehigh, visit the HR website. If you need more assistance, reach out to Lehigh HR at inben@lehigh.edu.