Bentley University supports staff employees who have a new child through birth, adoption, or foster care and who want to take time to bond with and care for their new child. The support may take the form of unpaid FMLA leave and/or paid parental leave for childbirth and/or bonding, depending on the employee’s needs and eligiblility.
Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA)
Employees may be eligible for up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave during a 12 month period following the birth or placement of a child for adoption or foster care, in accordance with the provisions of the Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA) and Massachusetts Parental Leave Act (MPLA). Additional time for multiple births may be permitted under MPLA. Employees should refer to the university’s FMLA policy or the MPLA policy on the Human Resources webpage to understand eligibility, rights and responsibilities. Employees must notify Human Resources of all requests for FMLA/MPLA leave.
If FMLA is not taken immediately following birth/placement, the employee should discuss the timing of FMLA leave with their manager to balance the need to care for and bond with the child and the university’s need to plan and minimize the impact on the department.
Paid Parental Leave – Childbirth and/or Bonding
The paid leave policies described herein apply to all benefits-eligible staff employees working at least 17.5 hours a week.
Childbirth/Bonding Leave: Birth mothers are eligible for up to 12 weeks of paid leave (8 weeks of childbirth leave following childbirth to provide time off for recovery plus 4 weeks of bonding leave). The paid leave generally would begin following the birth of the child. If a birth mother needs time off due to pregnancy prior to birth, she can use accrued sick or vacation time to continue her pay during such absences.
Bonding Leave: Spouses/partners of birth mothers, adoptive parents and foster parents are eligible for 4 weeks of paid bonding leave following the birth or placement of a child.
For all parents: Paid parental leave generally must be taken within 12 months of the birth or placement of the child. If paid leave doesn’t immediately follow childbirth leave (birth mothers) or the birth or placement of the child (all other parents) and is planned for a later time the employee should discuss the timing of the leave with his /her manager so that the employee's needs can be balanced with the university’s business needs.
The employee’s base pay and benefits will continue during these paid leaves. The paid leaves will run concurrently with leaves available through FMLA or MPLA.
Process
All FMLA/MPLA, childbirth and/or bonding leave requests must be approved by Human Resources.
Approved: July 2018