Texas A&M University employees (faculty, budgeted, student, wage) on maternity or paternity leave are, if eligible, entitled to job protection under the provisions of the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA). FMLA is unpaid and requires 2 entries in Workday.
Note: Employees on leave for the birth or adoption of a child have 31 days to add the baby to their insurance.
Employees who have not worked for the state of Texas for at least 12 months or who have worked fewer than 1,250 hours during the 12-month period preceding the needed leave qualify for maternal/paternal leave under the state's Parental Leave Act (PLA). Maternal/paternal leave under the FMLA and PLA includes the natural birth of a child and the placement of a child for adoption or state-certified foster care.
Parental Leave Act
- An employee is entitled to PLA benefits if they:
- have worked for the State of Texas for less than 12 months; or
- have worked less than 1,250 hours during the 12-month period preceding the needed leave.
- Leave under PLA:
- applies to the natural birth of a child, adoption, or foster care placement of a child under three years of age;
- intermittent PLA leave that is not medically necessary as per a physician's statement is subject to the approval of the employee's supervisor; and
- will expire 12 weeks after the date of birth, or 12 weeks after the first day the adoptive or foster child is formally placed in the employee's home.
Eligibility for paid Leave with Parental Leave
Before and After Childbirth
- Birthing Parent:
- Appropriate paid leave (sick, vacation, comp time, administrative leave.) will be used for doctor's appointments, prenatal visits, and medical recovery after childbirth.
- Following the birth of the child the birthing parent will exhaust all remaining leave she has with supporting medical documentation (not to exceed 12 weeks).
- An employee will be eligible for sick leave pool after meeting the 80 hour threshold to qualify for Sick Leave Pool.
- If the employee doesn’t have 80 hours of their own leave they can either enter unpaid time off or get a sick leave direct donation to get them to 80 hours.
- Medical documentation is required to determine the length of paid leave the birth Birthing Parent is allowed to use to remain in a paid status.
- Employees are not eligible to use their 1st of the month accruals once they begin their extended leave. (Example: an employee has a baby Feb 16 and is out the until April 13. The employee can not use their March 1 and April 1 accruals until they return to work.)
- Non-Birthing Parent (effective 9/1/2023):
- Appropriate paid leave (sick, vacation, comp time) will be used for doctor's appointments and prenatal visits.
- At birth the non-birthing parent is allowed to use five (5) days of Sick leave; absences in excess of five days must be supported by medical documentation that indicate a serious health condition with either the spouse or child at birth.
- After five days of entering sick leave, the non-birthing parent should begin using vacation and once vacation is exhausted the employee will enter unpaid time off.
Other Information
- Sick Leave Pool hours may be available in those cases where severe illness or prolonged complications due to pregnancy or childbirth arise with respect to either the spouse or the child.
- An employee who adopts a child younger than three years of age may use the amount of available sick leave following the adoption that would normally be granted for recovery from pregnancy and childbirth (up to six weeks).
Parental Leave Packet
Resources
If you have any questions or need further assistance, please Ask a Question about FMLA/Parental Leave.