Parental leave | UK Human Resources

Time away with Family Medical Leave

Federal law provides up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave for qualifying family and medical reasons, including becoming a parent.

Family Medical Leave is an unpaid, job-protected leave which could cover childbirth, adoption and placement or guardianship.

This leave is designed to be flexible to cover a variety of needs related to health and family. You must have worked at UK for 12 months within the past seven years, and 1,250 hours in the past 12 months, to qualify for Family Medical Leave.

In addition to job-protected time away, the university provides staff employees two weeks of paid parental leave. This paid parental leave can be taken up to six months after the birth or adoption of a child.

HR Policy & Procedure #88 Family and Medical Leave

"Any employee who has been a university employee (regular, temporary, faculty or student) for 12 months (not necessarily consecutive months, but within the last seven years) and has worked at least 1,250 hours during the previous 12-month period may take up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave for a serious health condition involving the employee or a qualified family member during any 12-month period for any or all of the following reasons:

Because of the birth of a child or the employee and in order to care for that child;
Because of the placement of a child with the employee for adoption or foster care"

See all reasons

Continue receiving pay by using your sick and vacation leave

For staff

The university provides a sets standard paid leave options for staff.

To maintain your income during your parental leave, the university provides a designated two weeks of paid parental leave for childbirth and adoption. Additionally, you may use accrued sick and vacation leave for more paid time away beyond two weeks.

These paid leaves run concurrently with Family Medical Leave. So, if you take two weeks of paid parental leave, you can use any combination of accrued sick leave or vacation leave to cover your remaining time away for birth or adoption.

Family Medical Leave also covers the new placement or guardianship of a child. This reason for leave is not covered by UK's paid parental leave. However, sick and vacation leave may be applied for this purpose.

For faculty

You will be granted six to eight weeks of paid sick leave for this purpose, in addition to the option to use any vacation leave you might have, up to the full 12 weeks of Family Medical Leave.

Refer to these policies for more details and contact the Office of Faculty Advancement if you have questions. You may also call the Office of Faculty Advancement at (859) 323-6589.

Faculty TDL and Family Medical Leave memo

G.R. 10 on Temporary Disability Leave for Faculty (page 12)

2 weeks of paid parental leave

A new type of paid leave for staff implemented by the university on July 1, 2021, that provides two weeks of paid leave for the birth or adoption of a child.

Read the announcement >

Sick and vacation leave

Staff leave accruals will be calculated on a prorated basis for your position's full-time equivalency (FTE) status. Check your current balances or calculate how much leave you'll accrue.

Leave balance in myUK >

Paid leave accrual calculator >

Flexibility with leave is possible

On the Family Medical Leave application, you'll see options for flexibility. It may be possible for the leave to be taken all at once or intermittently, and possibly with a reduced schedule upon return, pending your department's approval.

12 full weeks of leave

You can use up to 12 full weeks of leave, depending on your paid leave accruals.

Faculty do not accrue temporary disability leave but are eligible for paid leave from the beginning of employment, consistent with G.R. 10.

Intermittent leave

Leave may be taken in separate blocks of time due to a single qualifying event, according to the Family Medical Leave Act.

Intermittent leave is not available for the birth of a child, unless the child has a serious health condition. Intermittent leave may be used for adoption and foster care for mandatory appointments and other requirements.

Reduced hours upon return

Instead of returning immediately to regular, full-time work, you may have the option to return working fewer hours, if approved by your department or unit.

Requesting your leave

Please submit your Family Medical Leave form to HR Leave Administration. If you are not eligible for Family Medical Leave, you can submit a separate paid parental leave form. If you have any questions, please give us a call at (859) 257-8804 or email LeaveAdminFMLA@uky.edu

Family Medical Leave

Up to 12 weeks of unpaid, job-protected leave is available if you have worked at UK for 12 months within the past seven years, and at least 1,250 hours within the past 12 months

Get the form

Paid parental leave

If you have not worked enough to be eligible for Family Medical Leave, you may still qualify for paid parental leave. Any regular staff employee working at least 0.5 FTE is eligible for paid parental leave immediately upon empoyment. If you are not eligible for Family Medical Leave, fill out this form.

Get the form

Frequently asked questions

Are there age restrictions on a child's age to qualify for paid parental leave due to adoption?

The child being adopted must be under the age of 18 to qualify for paid parental leave.

Can I receive payment from my short-term disability plan while receiving paid parental leave?

Yes, you can receive payments from your short-term disability plan in conjunction with paid parental leave if you meet your plan’s requirements. We recommend you review your plan and qualifications with our short-term disability plan vendor, The MPM Group, as part of planning for parental leave.

Can I add two weeks of paid parental leave to the 12 weeks of Family Medical Leave?

No. Paid parental leave runs concurrently with Family Medical Leave, for a maximum of 12 weeks away for the birth or adoption of a child.

Updates

April 16, 2024 Annual period for employees to convert temporary disability leave to vacation leave now available through April 30

From our blog

January 27, 2016 Preparing for parental leave Azetta Beatty, MS

8 min. read

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Leave Administration

All employees (regular, temporary, faculty or student) who have worked for UK for 12 months, and have worked at least 1,250 hours during the previous 12-month period, are eligible. Please call us to discuss options if you’re ineligible.

Contact our office

Monday-Friday from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
(859) 257-8804
LeaveAdminFMLA@uky.edu
107 Scovell Hall

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Parental leave Federal law offers job-protected, unpaid leave, and we offer paid leave options.