Parental Leave & Adoption Assistance

Policy

Benefits-eligible staff will be eligible for four weeks paid parental leave when the birth, adoption or assignment of a foster child occurs after they have been with the university for at least six months. The paid portion of the parental leave must be used in a single block within one year of the birth, adoption or placement of the child. Exceptions to the commencement of the paid leave may be granted when medically necessary to begin leave prior to the birth of the child as certified by a health care provider in the case of birth mothers who have met the six month eligibility requirement at the time of leave. When this benefit is used it must be used before accrued sick and/or vacation leave. If the leave is extended, the employee must exhaust their accrued sick and/or vacation leave before taking unpaid leave. Holidays that fall within parental leave time will be paid as parental leave. Holidays will not extend parental leave.

Procedure

Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) - Employees who have worked at Loyola for at least 12 months and for at least 1,250 hours over the previous 12 months, are entitled to up to 12 weeks of job-protected unpaid leave for this purpose, assuming they have not previously used up the allotted FMLA time. Loyola’s paid parental leave will run concurrent with FMLA leave.

Louisiana revised statute 23:342 - Female employees who become disabled due to child birth or pregnancy complications are provided with up to a total of 16 weeks of unpaid job-protected leave. Loyola’s paid parental leave will run concurrent with this provision.

Requesting & Using Parental Leave - Because parental leave is foreseeable, the employee must ordinarily provide at least 30 days advance notice. An employee requesting paid parental leave must arrange the details of the leave with his or her supervisor. When requesting parental leave beyond four weeks paid time, staff will be required to use up paid sick and/or vacation leave. Faculty should refer to guidelines in Chapter 12 in the Faculty Handbook. All such time will be counted toward the 12 week FMLA leave provision and must be documented based on department head and Human Resources approval. Contact Human Resources for details on applying for parental leave.

Adoption Assistance - Full-time staff and faculty of Loyola who have completed at least 12 months of employment are eligible to be reimbursed for adoption related expenses to a maximum of $2,000 for agency and non-step child adoptions. Expenses related to an adoption that are reimbursable include:

• Agency, home study, and placement fees
• Legal fees and court costs
• Medical expenses of the birth mother
• Medical expenses of the child, not covered by insurance
• Temporary foster care costs
• Immigration, immunization and translation fees
• Transportation and lodging
• Adopted child’s passport and visa fees

The Adoption Reimbursement Request Form, a certified or notarized copy of the record of placement or final court order, and itemized receipts may be submitted to Human Resources up to six months after placement of the child in the employee’s home. An adopted child must be under the age of 18 at the time the adoption becomes finalized. If an employee and the other adoptive parent both work for the University, only one employee can utilize the adoption reimbursement benefit.

Amounts provided to an employee for adoption reimbursement will be recorded as income. Employees utilizing the adoption reimbursement plan should consult his or her tax advisor regarding possible exclusion of adoption-related expenses from the employee’s taxable income.