• What Is The Purpose Of Family And Parental Leave?
  
• What Is A "Serious Illness"?
  
• Who Is Eligible For Family And/Or Parental Leave?
  
• What Is Parental Leave?
  
• Time Frames/Leave Usage For Parental Leave
  
• Can Parental Leave Go Beyond Sixteen (16) Weeks?
  
• What Is Family Leave?
  
• Family Leave Time Frames/Leave Usage For Employee's Own Serious Illness
  
• Family Leave Time Frames/Leave Usage For Employee's Family Member
  
• Can Family Leave for a Family Member Go Beyond Twelve (12) Weeks?
  
• Employee FMLA Rights
  
• Employee Responsibilities under FMLA
  
• Employer's roles and responsibilities under FMLA
  
• Can An Employer Retroactively Designate Leave as Family or Parental Leave?
  
• What Is Short-Term Family Leave?
  
• How Much Short-Term Leave Can An Employee Take?
  
• If An Employee Wants To Take Short-Term Family Leave, How Much Notice Do They Have To Give Their Employer?
  
• Does Qualifying Family And Parental Leave Run Concurrent With Other Collective Bargaining Leave Benefits?
  
• Return To Work
  

What Is The Purpose Of Family And Parental Leave?

• Allows employees time to balance their work and family lives.
• Protects employees who need to take time off from work.
• Provides job-protection.
• Allows reasonable time off paid and/or unpaid to eligible employees for employee's own illness.
• Allows reasonable time off paid and/or unpaid to care for family members because of serious illness.
• Allows reasonable time off to care for dependent children in instances such as illness, birth, or adoption (for both male and female employees).

• Poses imminent danger of death.
• Requires in-patient care in a hospital, hospice, or residential medical facility.
  • "In patient care" means at least an overnight stay at a medical care facility, and any related period of incapacity or subsequent treatment related to the in-patient care.
• Requires continuing in-home care under the direction of a physician or health care provider.
  • Continuing treatment by health care provider cover five situations:
    1. Incapacity of more than three consecutive calendar days that involves either (a) treatment two or more times by a health care provider (or under the direction or orders of a health care provider), or (b) treatment by a health care provider on at least one occasion resulting in a regimen of continuing treatment under the supervision of the health care provider;
    2. Any period of incapacity due to pregnancy, or for prenatal care;
    3. Any period of incapacity or treatment due to a chronic serious health condition requiring periodic visits for treatment, including episodic conditions such as asthma, diabetes, and epilepsy;
    4. A period of incapacity which is permanent or long-term due to a condition for which treatment may not be effective, although the individual is under the continuing supervision of a health care provider. (E.g. Alzheimer's, severe stroke, or the terminal stages of a disease); and
    5. Any period of absence to receive multiple treatments from a health care provider (or on orders or referral from a health care provider) for restorative surgery or for a condition that would likely result in an absence of more than three consecutive calendar days without treatment (e.g., cancer (chemotherapy, radiation), severe arthritis (physical therapy), kidney disease (dialysis)).

Who Is Eligible For Family And/Or Parental Leave?
For classified employees, who make up most of the State's workforce, the benefits of family and parental leave are available as soon as they complete original probation.
For non-classified employees, or for classified employees who fail to complete probation within their first twelve months, the benefits of family and parental leave are available as soon as they must have worked for a year during which they have averaged at least 20 hours per week.

What Is Parental Leave?
Parental leave is the type of leave given to an employee for one of the following reasons:

• Following the birth or delivery of the employee's child.
• During the employee's pregnancy.
• Within a year following the initial placement of a child 16 years of age or younger with the employee for adoption.

Time Frames/Leave Usage For Parental Leave:
For State of Vermont employees, a leave of absence that qualifies as parental leave shall be granted upon request for up to sixteen (16) weeks. This leave is unpaid, unless the employee has and elects to use accrued leave. During the initial six (6) weeks, an employee may use any type of accrued leave, including but not limited to sick, annual, and personal. After the initial six (6) weeks the employee must use leave in the following order: compensatory time, personal time, and annual leave. No combination of paid and unpaid leaves shall extend the Parental Leave beyond sixteen (16) weeks.

Can Parental Leave Go Beyond Sixteen (16) Weeks?
No, however, an employee may request an additional two (2) months of leave. If the leave is approved it would be considered an unpaid Administrative leave in accordance with Administrative Leave provision of the Collective Bargaining Agreement.

What Is Family Leave?
Family leave is the type of leave given to an employee for one of the following reasons:

• employee's own "serious health condition
• serious illness of an employee's immediate family member

Family Leave Time Frames/Leave Usage For Employee's Own Serious Illness
Family leave of up to twelve (12) weeks shall be granted in the case of serious illness of an employee. Such leave shall be unpaid except if the employee has accrued sick leave balances. The employee is entitled to use accrued sick leave balances over the entire (12) weeks of family leave.

NOTE: Even if the statutory or contractual right to family leave is exhausted, the collective bargaining agreement's sick leave, unpaid medical leave, and administrative leave provisions are still applicable and may provide additional leave consistent with these provisions for an employee's own serious illness.

Family Leave Time Frames/Leave Usage For Employee's Family Member
A leave of absence without pay shall be granted upon request for up to twelve (12) weeks for employees for sickness of the employee's immediate family member. Such leave shall be unpaid unless the employee has and elects to use accrued leave balances for up to six (6) weeks, including, but not limited to sick, annual and personal leave. Thereafter, employees may us only the following accrued paid leaves in the following order: compensatory time, personal time, and annual leave

Can Family Leave for a Family Member Go Beyond Twelve (12) Weeks?
No, however, an employee may request an unpaid Administrative leave for up to six (6) months. If the leave is approved it would be considered an unpaid Administrative leave in accordance with Administrative Leave provision of the Collective Bargaining Agreement.

Employee FMLA Rights

• Entitled to a total of 12 weeks of statutory Family leave and/or statutory Parental leave within a 12-month period.
• Entitled to a total of 4-month unpaid/paid Parental leave under the Bargaining Agreement which includes the 12 weeks statutory Parental leave.
• In addition, an employee is entitled to Short-term leave as defined by the Bargaining Agreement and the Vermont State Law.
• No combination of Family and Parental leave may exceed (16) weeks in any twelve-month period.
• Any Family and Parental leave is calculated from the time such leave commences.

• Provide reasonable notice of intent to take leave (verbal or in writing).
• Date of anticipated commencement and expected duration of the leave (beginning and ending dates).
• Provide reasonable advance notice if the employee wishes to extend the leave.
• Request for use of accrued leave and/or unpaid leave.
• Reason for the leave.
• Provide any required documentation.

• Leave requests should always be reviewed with Family and Parental leave in mind.
• Consult with Human Resources division regarding:
• Employee's rights.
• Assistance to determine if a request for leaves of absence qualify as Family or Parental leave.
• Medical certification.
• Where medical information is filed.
• Confidentiality of medical information and availability of this information to other individuals.
• Notification to employees.
• Responsibility of the employer to designate the absent as Family or Parental leave at the beginning of such leave, within 72 hours of notice.
• Do not deny a qualifying employee's leave:
  • Approval may be given conditionally, pending the receipt of additional information. The approval may be withdrawn if it is learned that the reason for leave does not qualify as Family or Parental leave.
• Do not retaliate against an employee.
• Neither Federal law, State law, nor the Collective Bargaining Agreement requires an employee to ask specifically for Family or Parental leave.

Can An Employer Retroactively Designate Leave as Family or Parental Leave?
An employer may retroactively designate an absence from work as Family or Parental after any employee has returned to work under the following circumstances:

• The reason for the absence is unknown until after an employee has returned to work, and
• The employee is notified within (15) calendar days of returning that the leave will count against any FMLA entitlement.

• Intermittent Leave - Leave taken in separate blocks of time due to a single qualifying reason. This leave is medically necessary for the employee's own serious illness or to provide care or psychological comfort to a seriously ill member of the employee's immediate family. Parental Leave may be granted intermittently solely at the employer's discretion.
• Reduced Schedule Leave - Is a schedule that reduces an employee's usual number of working hours per workweek or hours per day.
• Short-Term Leave - Short-term family leave is a type of leave an employee may take for routine recurrent family or medical related events of less than a full day.

• Leave time needed to participate in preschool or school activities directly related to a family member's academic activities such as a parent-teacher conference;
• Go to the doctor or dentist for a routine visit;
• Accompany a family member to routine medical or dental appointments;
• Respond to a medical emergency involving a family member; and
• Accompany a family member to appointments for professional services related to their care and well-being such as interviewing for admission to a nursing home.

How Much Short-Term Leave Can An Employee Take?
An employee may take up to four hours of short-term family leave in any 30 days and up to 24 hours in any 12 months. The employer may require that the employee take at least two hours of leave at any one time.

How Much Advance Notice To The Employer Is Necessary For Short-Term Family Leave?
An employee must give notice as early as possible. The notice should be given at least seven days before taking leave. An employee may give less than seven days notice only in an emergency, such as where waiting for seven days might harm the person whose medical appointment is the reason for the leave.

Does Qualifying Family And Parental Leave Run Concurrent With Other Collective Bargaining Leave Benefits?
Yes, the State of Vermont runs concurrently all paid and unpaid leaves qualifying under the federal Family Medical Leave Act and Vermont's Parental and Family Leave Act. This includes, but is not limited to unpaid Medical Leave, unpaid Administrative Leave, usage of sick leave, usage of annual leave, usage of compensatory time, and personal leave usage.

Return To Work

After the leave expires, the employer will return the employee to the same or equivalent position at the same level of compensation, benefits, seniority, and other terms of employment as they existed on the day the leave began unless:

• Prior to employee's requested leave, the employee had given notice or received notice that employment would terminate; or
• If the State can demonstrate by clear and convincing evidence that the employee's position would have terminated or the employee would have been laid off for reasons unrelated to the leave or the condition for which the leave was granted.
• Employees do not retain this entitlement if at the end of the leave they are unable to perform the essential functions of the position, with or without reasonable accommodation, due to a physical or mental condition.
• Employees on Family or Parental Leave do not have greater rights to return to work than they would have if they had continuously remained at work. For example, employees who are on Family or Parental Leave during a staff reduction do not have a right to return to work if they are laid off due to the staff reduction.

• This statement must certify that the essential functions of the position can be performed with or without reasonable accommodation.
• Employees who do not provide this statement when requested should not be allowed to return to work.