Attendance & Leave

Q. What is a Delayed Holiday?
A. A delayed holiday is a type of compensatory leave.

Q. What type of employees are eligible for a Delayed Holiday?
A. Salaried exempt administration and faculty employees, not associated with a union are eligible to earn a delayed holiday. This excludes Clinical Faculty.

Q. How is a Delayed Holiday Earned?
A. A delayed holiday is earned when the eligible employee is required to work on a USF holiday or the holiday falls on an employee’s regular scheduled day off.

Q. Will Salaried exempt administration and faculty employees, not associated with a union still be eligible to earn special compensatory leave?
A. These employees will no longer receive Special Compensatory leave for working on a USF holiday or if the holiday falls on an employee’s regular scheduled day off.

Q. Can the Delayed Holiday hours be paid out?
A. The delayed holiday will not be eligible for a cash disbursement.

Q. How long can I keep my Delayed Holiday hours?
A. The delayed holiday must be used within six months of earning it, or it will be forfeited.

Q. If I have a change in status from an exempt employee to a non-exempt employee, what happens to my Delay Holiday balances?
A. The delayed holiday hours will be forfeited.

Q. I work a 4-day work week, 10 hours each day. How many hours of delayed holiday hours would I receive?
A. You would receive delayed holiday hours equivalent to the number of hours in your regular workday, not to exceed your appointed hours in a workweek. You will receive 10 hours.

Q. Can I use my delayed holiday hours in partial increments?
A. No. The delayed holiday must be taken in full day increments.

Q. How often may a faculty member use paid parental leave?
A. This benefit may be utilized no more than twice during a faculty member’s employment with the university, regardless of the amount used (one instance not to exceed one semester or up to 19.5 contiguous weeks), and regardless of any breaks in service. 

Q. Who may use the paid parental leave benefit?
A.  The paid parental leave benefit is intended for any regular employee in the United Faculty of Florida (UFF) bargaining unit or enrolled in the Faculty Pay Plan, employed for a minimum of one (1) academic year for faculty members with instructional responsibilities or a minimum of one (1) calendar year for faculty members without instructional responsibilities, and employed on at least a 0.75 FTE line. This program does not apply to individuals on a temporary, a term limited, or a visiting faculty line. Furthermore, employees on contracts or grants shall be eligible to the extent that such program benefits are permitted by the terms of the contract or grant, the rules of the funding agency, and adequate funds are available for this purpose in the contract or grant.

Q. How does a faculty member apply for paid parental leave?
A. In order to participate in this benefit a faculty member must submit a Parental Leave Request Form to his or her department chair or supervisor. The department chair should then forward the Parental Leave Request Form to his or her dean for endorsement who then forwards the request to the Academic Affairs Office. After a copy of the request has been received by the Academic Affairs Office, a representative will then contact the faculty member to answer any questions he or she may have and determine eligibility.  Upon approval from the Academic Affairs Office, a copy will be forwarded to  CHR to determine FMLA eligibility.

Q. If a faculty member has a multiple birth or adopts more than one child at the same time will they receive a period of paid parental leave for each child?
A. No. The paid parental leave benefit is available once per birth or adoption event, regardless of the number of children. Multiple births or adopting more than one child at one time constitutes a single event.

Q. How much notice should a faculty member give his/her department of intent to apply for paid parental leave?
A. A faculty member should give as much notice as possible when he or she anticipates the use of paid parental leave to enable the department to appropriately plan for course coverage and/or workload concerns. The faculty member must request use of the paid parental leave in advance, no later than three (3) months prior to the beginning of the leave. A shorter notice period may be allowed, on a case-by-case basis, for good cause and/or special circumstances, by the faculty member’s supervisor.

Q. What happens to a faculty member’s benefits while on paid parental leave?
A. While on paid parental leave the benefit coverage in which a faculty member is enrolled at the time of leave will continue, and any related employee contributions will continue to be deducted from their pay. 

Q. Will an employee continue to accrue annual and sick leave while out on paid parental leave?
A. Yes. When a faculty member is on paid parental leave, he or she will remain in an active paid status which allows for the continuation of vacation and sick leave accruals when applicable. 

Q. Is a faculty member obligated to return to university employment following participation in the program?
A. Yes. A faculty member must return to the university following participation in the program for at least one (1) academic year if the faculty member has instructional duties or for at least one (1) calendar year if the faculty member does not have instructional duties. Agreements to the contrary must be reduced to writing prior to participation. Return of salary received while on leave shall be required in those instances where neither of the above is satisfied. 

Q. Can this benefit be used by two individuals for one birth or adoption placement?
A. No. Paid parental leave will not be granted to two (2) faculty members for the same birth or adoption.

Q. What other limitations are associated with this benefit?
A. Paid leave shall not be granted that relieves the faculty member of both teaching and service assignments for more than one (1) semester. Unless approved in writing by the faculty member’s supervisor, paid parental leave may not be used immediately before or after Sabbaticals or Professional Development Leave. 

Q. Can a Dean or Chair modify duty assignments before and after the paid leave?
A. Yes. A Dean or Chair may modify the faculty member’s duty assignment before or after the paid leave based on departmental needs and the needs of the faculty member. 

Q. Can a faculty member use this benefit and then utilize the entitlements of the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA)?
A. No. Paid parental leave runs concurrently with the Family and Medical Leave when faculty members meet the eligibility standards of the FMLA. 

Q. Does use of parental leave affect the faculty member’s leave balance?
A. The faculty member shall not be required to use accrued leave during the 19.5 contiguous weeks, or one (1) semester, of the parental leave. However, whenever the faculty member resigns, retires, or otherwise permanently terminates employment with the university, the number of hours that the faculty member has utilized for paid parental leave, excluding any hours that were taken as accrued leave, shall be deducted from the total balance of accrued sick and/or annual leave (with sick leave being deducted first) that the faculty member has remaining at the time of separation from the university. This deduction shall be performed only immediately prior to calculating any payment to be made to the faculty member for unused sick and/or annual leave pursuant to the Collective Bargaining Agreement in force and University Regulations.

Faculty in USF Health who receive clinical compensation will be paid in accordance with USF Health procedures for extended leave and must have returned to their assigned clinical duties for a minimum of thirty (30) days upon their return from Paid Parental Leave to have the clinical compensation restarted. For more information on these procedures, please visit the Office of Faculty Affairs website at: http://health.usf.edu/facultyaffairs/ or contact the Office of Faculty Affairs directly at 974-5105.

Q. How does a department chair obtain teaching?
A. The Parental Leave Request Form should be completed by the faculty member, endorsed by the department chair and/or dean, and approved by the Academic Affairs Office. If there is teaching replacement costs associated with the approved paid parental leave of a faculty member, all arrangements will be made through the Academic Affairs Office. 

Q. What if a teaching faculty member begins the paid parental leave in the middle of a semester?
A. Eligible faculty will be granted up to 19.5 contiguous weeks of paid leave or one semester (or up to three months for non-instructional faculty). Scheduling may be dependent upon the expected time of the event (birth or adoption). If the event occurs in the summer months, the faculty member would be granted paid parental leave under this program for the following fall semester. If the event occurs in the middle of the spring or fall semester, the faculty member may choose to use accrued sick, vacation, and/or unpaid leave to finish out the semester and then take the following semester as their paid parental leave (as provided under this program). Eligible faculty should work very closely with their Chair or Dean for appropriate scheduling that will ensure minimal disruption to the classroom with a continuation of instructional objectives.

Q. How will leave usage be tracked?
A. All paid parental leave will be tracked in Oracle.  All FMLA leave will be tracked by the departmental leave coordinator.

Q. If the faculty member is part-time, is the paid parental leave pro-rated?
A. Yes. Paid parental leave will be paid proportionate to the full time equivalency (FTE) assigned to the faculty member. Faculty members eligible to participate in this program must be employed on a 0.75 FTE or greater appointment. 

Q. Are nine-month faculty members eligible for the paid parental leave over the summer?
A. No. Nine-month faculty members are not required to hold a summer appointment, therefore, will not be eligible for paid parental leave during the summer. However, in the event that a faculty member on a 9-month contract gives birth or adopts during the summer the paid parental leave may be taken in the subsequent fall semester provided that prior notice is submitted to their Academic Chair or Dean as appropriate.

Q. Does the tenure clock stop if a faculty member is on paid parental leave?
A. Yes. When a faculty member uses this benefit, the tenure clock automatically stops during his or her paid parental leave. However, faculty may choose to opt out by notifying the Academic Affairs Office, in writing, that they wish for the tenure clock to continue during the approved paid parental leave.

Q. Whom should I contact with any questions I may have about paid parental leave?
A. For more information about paid parental leave, please contact your campus’ Academic Affairs Office.