Eligibility and Compliance
All regular full-time and regular part-time faculty, staff, and administrators, who have been employed by the university for a minimum of six months, are eligible to apply for a leave of absence. In addition, temporary full-time employees, who have been employed for a minimum of one year, also are eligible. For purposes of the Federal Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), an employee is eligible for leave if he/she is employed for 12 months and has worked 1,250 hours or more during the twelve months before leave is requested. Under the Wisconsin FMLA, an employee must work 1,000 or more hours during the 12 months before a leave is requested.
An employee's record of continuous service will not be broken by a leave of absence of six months or less, whether with or without pay. Employees returning from a leave of absence within six months, either to their former position or to a different position, will be credited with no break in service. After six consecutive months on a leave of absence, an employees leave time will not be counted toward the calculation of length of service. The employee will receive credit toward length of service for all time accrued up to the six-month time limit.
All medical, personal, or parental/caretaking family leaves, granted under the university's Leaves of Absence Policy, shall comply with the legal provisions of the Wisconsin Family and Medical Leave Act of 1988, the Federal Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993, and any current/updated rulings made in conjunction with either of these acts, and shall run concurrently.
Notice of Leave
One month prior to due date or scheduled C-Section. Section 825.302 of the FMLA regulations states, “An employee must provide the employer at least 30 days advance notice before FMLA leave is to begin if the need for the leave is foreseeable based on an expected birth, placement for adoption or foster care, or planned medical treatment for a serious health condition of the employee or of a family member. If 30 days notice is not practicable, such as because of a lack of knowledge of approximately when leave will be required to begin, a change in circumstances, or a medical emergency, notice must be given as soon as practicable.” FMLA regulations allows employers to reserve the right to deny a portion of a foreseeable leave until proper documentation is provided. Proper documentation includes a Leave of Absence Request Form, completed by the employee and supervisor, and a Certification of Health Care Provider Form, completed by the employee’s doctor.
Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) -- Support Staff and Administrators
Leave cannot be taken intermittently. The university will provide an employee up to a total of 12 weeks of unpaid leave in any calendar year to care for a child after childbirth, or as a result of the placement of a child for adoption or foster care, within the first twelve months after childbirth or the placement of the adoptive/foster child. When both spouses are employed at Marquette University, total combined leave may not exceed 12 weeks. Employees may choose to substitute, or may be required to substitute, accrued paid leave time, e.g., vacation or sick, for part or all of the statutory unpaid period up to a total of 12 weeks per year for birth, adoption, the recovery of the mother following childbirth, or any combination of these events. The employee must notify his/her supervisor and the Department of Human Resources prior to the official start date of the leave.
Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) -- Faculty
Leave cannot be taken intermittently. In the event of a need for a maternity/paternity leave for a Marquette faculty member, any part of which falls in the midst of an academic semester or session, the faculty member may invoke all leave rights under the university Family and Medical Leave policy, and nothing in this policy shall preclude any faculty members from taking full advantage of such rights. The university recognizes, however, the unique situation presented by the teaching role of faculty and the need of our students to have a positive and effective educational experience. To that end, the university affords the following options to full-time regular faculty with respect to their teaching role as related to maternity/paternity leaves:
- Plan 1: A full-time regular faculty member may opt to take a medical leave as required and return to full duties, including teaching, with only a minimal disruption in schedule as determined by the dean of the college. Under such circumstances, any period of leave, if any, will be compensated as provided under the university Family and Medical Leave policy and the faculty member will be fully compensated upon return to full duties, including teaching.
- Plan 2: A full-time regular faculty member may opt to take a medical leave as required and assume alternative duties for the remainder of the semester, with no teaching duties for any part of the semester. Such alternative duties, which may include research, service, advising and/or administrative assignments, shall be sufficient to constitute a full-time workload. Since the nature of academic activity varies so greatly across campus, it is the prerogative of each dean to establish guidelines for such alternative duties under this policy, as well as to make individualized arrangements with a particular faculty member selecting this option. Under such circumstances, any period of leave will be compensated as provided under the university Family and Medical Leave policy and the faculty member will be fully compensated upon assumption of such alternative duties.
- Plan 3: A full-time regular faculty member may opt to be relieved of all duties for the full semester. Under such circumstances, this leave shall be compensated to the extent allowed by the university Family and Medical Leave policy and any remainder of the semester shall constitute unpaid leave.
In the context of collegial leave management, the dean and the faculty member requesting leave should work together to minimize the impact of the leave and any alternative duty arrangements on students and to minimize the need for replacement costs. All such costs shall be handled by the college.
Upon completing and submitting to the Office of the Provost the Parental Extension
Form, a tenure track faculty member who becomes the parent of a child (either by birth or adoption), shall be eligible for an automatic one-year extension of the time period for conferral of tenure. This automatic extension, however, may be waived if the faculty member so desires and so indicates by selecting the appropriate block on the Parental Extension form.
No more than two extension requests will be granted, however, the second extension request (for the birth or adoption of a subsequent child) must be submitted in writing to the Office of the Provost. Such request will not be automatically granted but rather is subject to approval of the Provost.
The Parental Extension Form for the automatic extension of the time period for conferral of tenure may be downloaded from the Provost web page and must be filed with the Office of the Provost no later than the beginning of the academic year following the date of the birth/adoption. No request may be made after June 15 preceding the time-bound year.
Continuation of Benefits, Accruals and Salary
Employees who are eligible for a maternity/paternity leave will have the option to continue their benefits during their leave. For employees enrolled medical and/or dependent care flexible spending accounts, must continue their contrubutions per IRS regulations.
Due to the birth or adoption of a child, employees who are or are not participating in the University's medical and dental insurance are able to enroll effective the date of birth/adoption. (This includes spouses and other eligible dependents too.) The Benefits Department needs to receive completed enrollment forms within 30 days of the birth/adoption.
FMLA is 12 unpaid workweeks; however, Marquette University allows the following:
- Support Staff can use eligible and accrued sick, vacation and/or their floating holiday.
- Administrators can substitute eligible and accrued short-term disability, vacation and/or their floating holiday. If the employee elects to use short-term disability and run out of short-term ability days, they will be paid at 75%.
- Faculty can substitute eligible and accrued short-term disability for unpaid time. If the employee elects to use short-term disability and run out of short-term ability days, they will be paid at 75%.
Eligible time is calculated based on the day prior to the leave. Employees cannot use vacation or sick time accruing duing their leave of absence.
Apply for a Maternity or Paternity Leave of Absence
- Give at least 30 days notice for your department to make accomodations to be the least disruptive as possible to their operational needs.
- Give at least 30 days notice to Employee Benefits by completing a Leave of Absence Request Form and having your or your spouse's doctor complete a Certification of Health Care Provider Form.
