Family Care and/or Parental Bonding Leave

Overview

If you need time off to care for a loved one or bond with a newborn, foster child or adopted child, you may be eligible for job-protected leave. At UCSF, some or all of your job-protected leave may be paid.

 

Criteria for family care

If you meet the eligibility requirements, you may take Family Care and/or Parental Bonding Leave for any of the following reasons:

• To care for a family member (spouse, domestic partner, child, parent, parent-in-law, grandparent, grandchild, sibling or designated person) who has a serious health condition;

  • For FML purposes, a “designated person” is any individual related by blood or whose association with the employee is the equivalent of a family relationship. You may identify the designated person at the time you request the leave. You are limited to one designated person per calendar year.

• To bond with your newborn, adopted child or foster child, or to take care of responsibilities related to the birth, adoption or placement of your new child (FML taken as Parental Bonding Leave);

• To address “qualifying exigencies” such as legal, financial or other matters that result from the active duty (or the call to active duty) of your spouse, domestic partner, child, parent or parent-in-law who is a military member (FML taken as Qualifying Exigency Leave);

• To care for a family member—spouse, domestic partner, son, daughter, parent, or next of kin—who is a covered service member with a serious injury or illness incurred or aggravated in the line of active duty (FML taken as Military Caregiver Leave). 

You may not need to use the leave in one continuous block of time. However, when it is medically necessary, you may take the leave intermittently or on a reduced-schedule basis.

Job protections and pay options

Beginning 1/1/2023, UC offers Pay for Family Care and Bonding (PFCB), allowing eligible UC employees to elect income replacement calculated at 100% of eligible earnings, for up to eight (8) workweeks, during an FMLA and/or CFRA qualifying leave.

Federal law (Family and Medical Leave Act, or FMLA) and California law (California Family Rights Act, or CFRA) allow you to take up to 12 weeks of job-protected leave during a rolling 12-month period for all eligible leaves of absence combined.

  • FMLA and CFRA are not paid; however, the Pay for Family Care and Bonding (PFCB) will provide a pay option allowing eligible UC employees to elect to use income replacement, calculated at 100 percent of eligible earnings, for up to eight workweeks while unable to work during an FMLA- and/or CFRA-qualifying leave.
  • Your balance of job-protected leave, up to an additional four weeks, can be taken using a combination of vacation and paid time off accruals as income replacement.
  • FMLA, CFRA, and/or PFCB may be taken intermittently, and are most often taken in increments of at least two weeks each when used for bonding time.

Laws and programs

Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) is a federal law that provides eligible employees with unpaid, job-protected leave for specific qualifying family and medical leave reasons. Eligible employees may take up to 12 workweeks of FMLA per calendar year.

In general, to be eligible for FMLA, you need to meet the following eligibility criteria:

  • Must have 12 cumulative months of UC employment and
  • Must have worked at least 1,250 productive hours immediately preceding the 12 months before your FMLA leave starts. Productive hours do not include time away used for vacation/PTO, sick/extended sick time, and compensatory time off (CTO).

The California Family Rights Act (CFRA) is a state law that provides eligible employees with unpaid, job-protected leave for specific, qualifying family and medical reasons. Eligible employees may take up to 12 workweeks of leave per calendar year. Please note, depending on the type of leave, CFRA may run concurrently with FMLA.

In general, to be eligible for CFRA, you need to meet the following eligibility criteria:

  • Must have 12 cumulative months of UC employment and
  • Must have worked at least 1,250 productive hours immediately preceding the 12 months before your CFRA leave starts. Productive hours do not include time away used for vacation/PTO, sick/extended sick time, and compensatory time off (CTO).

Please note that the eligibility criteria for CFRA are the same as for FMLA.

Pay for Family Care and Bonding (PFCB) is a pay option for eligible employees to receive up to 100% of their eligible earnings for up to eight workweeks per calendar year for leaves taken under the FMLA and/or CFRA for one of the following reasons:

  • Parental bonding
  • To care for a family member with a serious health condition
  • Military caregiver leave
  • Qualifying exigency leave

Steps for taking a family care and/or parental bonding leave

Step1

Review taking a leave of absence

Review Taking a Leave of Absence on UCnet to review your rights and available options.

Step2

Inform your manager

Inform your manager of your need for a leave of absence. You should include your anticipated dates out of the office as far in advance as possible.

  • Details related to your medical condition or your family member’s medical condition do not need to be shared with your manager.

Step3

Submission of leave request

Submit your leave of absence request via HR Umbrella, using your personal email address. Once submitted, your leave specialist will partner with you to:

  • Confirm your eligibility under the Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA) and/or California Family Rights Act (CFRA), if applicable.
  • Required documentation which will guide you through the process and is required in order to certify your leave. This may include:
    • Health care provider certification
    • Declaration of relationship for FML 
  • Determine the dates you will be on paid and unpaid status, along with options and your obligations while on unpaid status.
    • Review your options for covered pay with your leave specialist.
      • Use of accrued leave is guided by your policy or collective bargaining agreement, related to the type of leave you are taking.
      • You also may have eligibility for Pay for Family Care and Bonding (PFCB) if you are on a qualifying leave to bond with a child or care for a family member. In the HR Umbrella Leave Request, indicate whether you would like to use Pay for Family Care and Bonding (PFCB) and the date on which you would like the pay option to begin.
    • If you are on unpaid status, personal payments will need to be submitted to continue your benefits coverage. You will receive a Benefits Billing Election Form from the Leave Management team.

Step4

Confirm your return-to-work date

As early as possible, contact your supervisor and the appropriate leaves contact to confirm your return-to-work date:

Ensure mandatory department compliance is completed. Talk with your immediate supervisor or manager. It is your responsibility to ensure that you are compliant with UC COVID-19 policy as well as any other required immunization and health screenings before returning to work. All relevant UC COVID-19 policy information, FAQs, and forms may be found here under UCSF's COVID-19 vaccination policy. 

If you will return to work as expected, you must submit timely documentation to us outlining the additional leave period requested. Please provide the documentation before your expected return to work date. 

Step5

Return to work

Upon your return to work, you should:

  • Submit your benefit enrollment forms or enroll via UCPath online to reinstate benefit coverage.
  • Review your benefit enrollments and benefits summary within 31 days after your return. Go to the UCPath portal or contact UCPath directly at 855-982-7284. 
  • Review your first several earnings statements on the UCPath website. 
  • Contact Campus Life Services to reinstate any voluntary deductions, such as parking, pretax transit, gym or vanpool.