D. Leaves Defined:
Maternity Leave
An eligible faculty member who gives birth to a child may take up to six (6) consecutive weeks of paid leave immediately following the birth of a child. Because full-time 9-month faculty members’ benefits do not include sick or vacation leave, the University will provide short-term disability or continuation pay to cover paid leave. Under this Policy and the University’s FMLA policy, the eligible faculty member is relieved of all teaching, service, and scholarly work obligations during the approved Maternity Leave. If the period of six weeks after the birth of a child ends two weeks (i.e. 10 working days) into the start of the semester, the faculty member will normally resume teaching responsibilities for the remainder of the semester. If the six weeks period extends beyond two weeks (i.e. 10 working days) at the beginning of the semester, or commences at any time during the semester, the remaining weeks of the affected semester will be devoted to non-teaching responsibilities by asking the faculty member to be available for non-teaching duties. In such cases, the Dean, in consultation with the Provost, will make such arrangements as are necessary and appropriate with regard to covering the teaching and other responsibilities.
An eligible staff member or 12-month faculty member who gives birth to a child may take up to six (6) consecutive weeks of paid leave immediately following the birth of a child. Sick leave will be used to cover the 10-day elimination period for the six (6) week short-term disability period. The elimination period is the period of time between the onset of a disability and the time one is eligible for the short-term disability benefit. In addition, eligible staff members and 12-month faculty may take any accrued, but unused vacation time, up to a maximum of twelve (12) consecutive weeks, within the leave year. During an approved Maternity Leave, the eligible staff and 12-month faculty member is relieved of all work obligations.
The Maternity Leave will run concurrently with a medical leave associated with the birth. The birth of more than one (1) child from the same pregnancy constitutes one (1) birth for the purposes of this policy.
Adoption/Surrogacy Leave
An eligible faculty member may take up to six (6) consecutive weeks of paid leave immediately following the adoption of a child who is less than 18 years of age. An eligible faculty member who is having a child via gestational carrier (surrogate) may commence paid leave on the date the gestational carrier (surrogate) commences labor. Because full-time 9-month faculty members’ benefits do not include sick or vacation leave, The University of Tampa will provide continuation pay to cover paid leave. During an approved Adoption/Surrogacy Leave, the eligible faculty member is relieved of all teaching, service, and scholarly work obligations. If the six weeks period extends beyond two weeks (i.e. 10 working days) into the beginning of the semester, or commences at any time during the semester, the remaining weeks of the affected semester will be devoted to non-teaching responsibilities by asking the faculty member to be available for non-teaching duties. In such cases, the Dean, in consultation with the Provost, will make such arrangements as are necessary and appropriate with regard to covering the teaching and other responsibilities.
An eligible staff or 12-month faculty member may take up to six (6) consecutive weeks of paid leave for adoption of a child who is less than 18 years of age. An eligible staff or 12-month faculty member who is having a child via gestational carrier (surrogate) may commence paid leave on the date the gestational carrier (surrogate) commences labor. Vacation and personal leave may be used to cover the 10-day elimination period for continuation pay. In addition, eligible staff members and 12-month faculty may take any accrued, but unused vacation time, up to a maximum of twelve (12) consecutive weeks, within the leave year.
The adoption/surrogacy of more than one (1) child within the same leave year constitutes one (1) adoption for the purposes of this policy. An eligible faculty member or eligible staff member may take only one (1) Adoption/Surrogacy Leave per leave year.
Where the other adoptive or surrogate parent is a University employee who is also either an eligible faculty member or an eligible staff member for a paid Adoption/Surrogacy Leave, only one (1) parent may take a paid
Adoption/Surrogacy Leave; the other may take a Parental Leave.
Parental Leave
In the event of the birth of a child, or the adoption/surrogacy, or foster care placement of a child under the age of 18, an eligible employee who is not eligible for either Maternity Leave or Adoption/Surrogacy Leave is entitled to five (5) consecutive days of paid Parental Leave immediately following the birth, adoption, or foster care placement of a child. The birth, adoption/surrogacy, or foster care placement of more than one (1) child within the same leave year constitutes one (1) Parental Leave for the purposes of this policy.