Parental Leave Policy for Academic Faculty in Arts and Sciences

1. Background and University Policy

The University's "Faculty Leave Policies, adopted in November 1993 are the starting point for analysis. They are also available on the Provost's web site at: http://www.virginia.edu/provost/docs_policies/leaves.html. The policies were adopted in order to comply with the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1992, but in a number of respects are more generous than the Act requires. The University's policies represent a floor below which Arts & Sciences policies may not fall.

The University provides for up to 12 weeks of leave for birth mothers. The default rule is six weeks of paid leave and six of unpaid leave; however, when required for medical reasons, the second six weeks may be paid as well, pursuant to the University's general policy on temporary disability. The policy also provides that at the birth of a child, a father will be entitled to 12 weeks leave, but all of it is unpaid. An employee who adopts is similarly entitled to 12 weeks unpaid leave, except that if the child is under seven years of age at the time of adoption, the first three weeks of leave are paid. Finally, the policy provides for unpaid family leaves for up to one year when family circumstances, including child care or acting as primary caretaker for a disabled or elderly adult, makes it difficult for the faculty member to carry out assigned duties. The policy states that such leaves "may be granted, and the administrative authority to grant or deny such leaves presumably rests with the individual department, although this is not stated explicitly.

The University also has a policy under which "tenure-track faculty members may request that family disability leave not be counted as part of the probationary period --i.e., that they may request that the tenure clock be stopped for one year.

2. The College of Arts and Sciences has built upon these University policies. The College's policy is designed to simplify the scheduling of leaves for both the faculty member and for the College by, when possible, relieving faculty members of classroom responsibilities for the entire semester. It does not relieve faculty members of other responsibilities during the period that it is available. As with other leaves such as Sesquis, the Dean's office normally cannot offer funds to replace the faculty on leave.

2.1 Assignment to other than classroom responsibilities. A faculty member who has taken maternity, paternity, or adoption leave for at least six weeks is normally entitled to no more than 13.5 weeks of assignment to other than classroom responsibilities. Such reassignment must be in the same semester as the six weeks of full time leave. Such assignment to other than classroom responsibilities is available only to a faculty member who is the primary caretaker of the newly born or adopted child. Only one such leave may be taken for each child, even if both parents are faculty members, and such leave may only be taken instead of, not in addition to, any modified service leave available for care of the child.

2.2 During the (maximum of) thirteen and one half weeks of assignment to other than classroom responsibilities, the faculty member will be entirely relieved of classroom teaching duties. Combined with six weeks of maternity, paternity, or adoption leave, the reassignment of duties will normally result in a semester in which the faculty member is entirely relieved of classroom teaching duties, simplifying both the schedule of the faculty member and of the College. However, because faculty members perform a range of duties in addition to classroom teaching, such as research, advising and committee work, a faculty member will normally continue to perform such duties during the reassignment period.

These policies are undergoing review by the General Counsel's Office of the University and may be subject to modification. Unless and until such modification occurs, this Arts & Sciences Parental Leave Policy will become effective January 1, 2000.

Revised April 6, 1999
December, 1999