Pay for Family Care and Bonding

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.

Pay for Family Care and Bonding (PFCB) provides a pay option eligible UC employees may to elect to use as income replacement, calculated at 100 percent of eligible earnings, for up to eight workweeks per calendar year. Employees must be unable to work during certain types of leaves under the Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA) and/or California Family Rights Act (CFRA).

All eligible policy-covered staff, academic appointees and employees represented by the following unions*:

• AFSCME Patient Care Technical (EX) and Service (SX)
• California Nurses Association (NX)
• FUPOA (PA)
• Teamsters 2010 (CX)
• UPTE Health Care Professionals (HX), Research (RX), and Technical (TX)
• San Francisco Trades Council (K2)
• Non-Senate Instructors (IX) and Librarians (LX)
• Non-Senate Instructors (IX) and Librarians (LX) 
• Physicians, Dentists and Podiatrists (DX) 
• Academic Researchers (RA)

The following unions did not agree to participate in the PFCB pay option: 

• Interns & Residents – UCSF (M2) 
• Postdoctoral Scholars (PX) 

*This list is current effective June 14, 2021, and will be updated if applicable.

PFCB provides 100 percent of gross/base pay, for up to eight workweeks per calendar year, for leave to care for the following family members with a serious health condition:

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

• 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). 

To qualify, you must take your FML in a block of at least one workweek. If you elect to use PFCB during a qualifying FML block leave rather than using paid leave accruals or taking the leave without pay, you must continue to use PFCB until you either exhaust your full eight workweeks of PFCB for the calendar year or that qualifying FML block leave ends. If your leave ends before you have used the full eight workweeks of PFCB for the calendar year, the remainder is available to use during a qualifying FML block leave later in the calendar year. At this time, although a CFRA leave may be taken for care of a designated person, leave for care of designated persons are not currently eligible for PFCB.

There are two eligibility requirements:

1. The employee must qualify for protected leave under FMLA and/or CFRA at the time of the leave.
   • FML/CFRA eligibility is determined by Human Resources and is based on an employee having worked at UC for 12 months and for 1,250 productive hours (productive hours do not include time away used for vacation/PTO, sick/extended sick time or compensatory time off) in the year immediately preceding the leave. PFCB is not payable:
     • During Supplemental Family and Medical Leave (for PPSM-policy covered employees)
     • During leave of absence periods not covered under FMLA and/or CFRA
     • If the employee has exhausted FML and/or CFRA leave protections for the calendar year
2. The leave must be a PFCB-qualifying leave as defined above.

• PFCB is available for up to eight workweeks per calendar year. 
• PFCB must be used in blocks of a minimum of one workweek.
  • PFCB cannot be used for reduced schedule or intermittent leaves, or leaves of less than one workweek.
• PFCB must be used until the employee either exhausts their full eight workweeks of PFCB for the calendar year, or that qualifying block leave period ends.
• When an employee is receiving PFCB, the employee cannot use paid leave accruals (vacation, sick leave, paid time off (PTO), compensatory time off (CTO) or any other type of paid leave (e.g. Health Science Compensation Plan benefits) at the same time.

• Pays at 100 percent of gross/base rate. Specific guidelines have been outlined by the University of California Office of the President.
• University of California Retirement Program retirement service credit accrues at 100 percent during this time.
• Taxes during this time are at 100 percent of gross pay.
• Sick, vacation, extended sick time (EST), and/or PTO balances accrue in accordance with pay status.
• Health and welfare benefits deductions will be taken from PFCB in accordance with the employee’s benefit elections.