Qualifying Exigency Leave

Questions? Contact Shared Services

Overview

Qualifying exigency leave provides protected leave to eligible employees to attend to qualifying activities or events when their family member is on covered active duty or called to covered active duty.

Criteria for qualified exigency leave

  • Your spouse, domestic partner, son, daughter, or parent is a member of the Armed Forces (including the National Guard and Reserves) who has been notified of an impending call or order to covered active duty. 
  • For members of the regular armed forces, covered active duty is duty during deployment of the member with the armed forces to a foreign country. For members of the reserve components of the armed forces (members of the National Guard and Reserves), covered active duty is duty during deployment of the member with the armed forces to a foreign country under a call or order to active duty in a contingency operation.
  • Leave is needed to support the military member's active duty, including:
    • Short-notice deployment to address issues that arise due to a military member being notified of an impending call to active duty seven or fewer calendar days prior to the date of deployment.
    • Military events and activities
    • Childcare and school activities 
    • Financial and legal arrangements
    • Counseling
    • Rest and recuperation 
    • Post-deployment activities to attend ceremonies sponsored by the military for a period of 90 days following termination of the military member’s active duty
    • Parental care 
    • Additional activities related to the military member’s active duty or call to active duty status 

Job protections and pay options

Job protections 

  • Military exigency is covered under the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) and the California Family Rights Act (CFRA)
  • Federal law (FMLA) and California law (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.

Pay options

  • FMLA and/or CFRA are not paid; however, the Paid Family Care and Bonding (PFCB) will provide a pay option allowing eligible UC employees to elect to use income replacement, calculated at 70% of eligible earnings, for up to eight workweeks while unable to work during an FMLA- and/or CFRA-qualifying leave. PFCB must be taken in increments of at least one week.
  • Your balance of job-protected leave
  • Accrued vacation, paid time off (if applicable), and/or compensatory time off can be taken in place of unpaid time off; please see relevant policies below.

Provisions

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 must 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.

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 must 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.

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 70% 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 qualifying exigency leave

Step1

Review details for taking a leave

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 to take a leave, including your anticipated dates out of the office, as far in advance as possible.

Step3

Submit your 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.
  • Complete necessary documentation which will guide you through the process and is required in order to certify your leave. This may include:
    • Certification for qualifying exigency leave
    • Additional documentation supporting the request
  • 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 be eligible 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 are under UC's COVID-19 vaccination policy. If you will not 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:

  • Contact Campus Life Services to reinstate any voluntary deductions, such as parking, pre-tax transit, gym, vanpool, etc.
  • Take the following actions in UCPath:
    • Submit your benefit enrollment forms or enroll online to reinstate benefit coverage.
    • Review your benefit enrollments and Benefits Summary within 31 days after your return. 
    • Review your first several earnings statements to ensure they are correct.
UCPath