Faculty Time Reporting

• Question: How is vacation, sick, bereavement, and personal time reported?
  • Answer: This is a department-based decision, it's not required that faculty leave be reported. It is important to ensure equity for all faculty in how the department requires time to be taken and/or reported.
• Question: How much sick, vacation, and outside consulting time can be charged to a federal grant annually?
  • Answer: Time is charged according to % effort on the Federal project and leave is not reported, unless it exceeds three months.

Faculty Leave of Absence (LOA)

• Question: How much time can be taken for FMLA leave and how much of this leave can be paid?
  • Answer: FMLA leave is described in the Faculty Manual. Vanderbilt provides up to 12 weeks of unpaid, job-protected leave for certain medical reasons. The employee must have worked for at least one year and for 1,250 hours during previous twelve months. If parental leave is requested, the Medical School policy is in effect which provides up to six weeks of salary and benefits. For additional weeks, full benefits are maintained without salary for up to an additional 10 weeks. Faculty members must complete the appropriate paperwork which goes through the Occupational Health Office for them to complete a Medical Leave Determination which is forwarded to the Faculty Affairs office for processing and Dean's approval.

FMLA process (FACULTY only ; STAFF - Please contact Sherry Stokes for assistance)

• Faculty member completes the Medical Leave of Absence form.
• Faculty member returns completed form to Diane.
• Diane will scan and email to Employee Relations (ER) with cc to faculty member.
• ER will send an email notice to faculty member with a cc to supervisor (Frank) and to Diane informing them if faculty member is eligible for FMLA. If eligible, ER will attach the "notice of Eligibility & Rights Notice" and the "Leave Request for Employee's Medical Condition". The treating physician is to complete the "Leave Request for Employee's Medical Condition" and fax to Occupational Health.
• After Occupational Health receives the medical determination statement from the treating physician, ER will send an email to the supervisor (Frank), cc to Diane, with instructions for completing the approval letter. ER will attach a template approval letter and a copy of the Medical Leave Determination.
• Diane has a time line to provide the approval letter to the faculty member once she receives it.
• Diane sends an email to the faculty member with the following attachments: Leave Approval Letter, Utilization Form, and Request to Return to Work. In the email, Diane fully explains how to fill out the utilization form.
  • For maternity leave, the doctor is only obligated to write down the time medically needed to heal after giving birth (6-8 weeks). After that, it is considered 'bonding time' for which there is no paperwork.
  • As a faculty member approaches their "due date", please let Diane know the amount of time faculty member requests to take off (up to 17 weeks of protected time) even though only a portion will call for the Dr's paperwork dates.
• Utilization form needs to be filled out at the end of each month, initialed by the faculty member and signed by the supervisor (Frank). If you forward to Diane, she will ensure Frank signs and Diane will submit on your behalf.
• Once dates have been confirmed, Diane will notify Linda with a cc to WJ to initiate ePAC for paid leave status.

(thanks to Sherry Stokes for guiding Diane through this!)

Faculty Parental Leave Policy (SOM)

The following Parental Leave Policy has been adopted to promote a family-friendly work environment that will enhance the recruitment and retention of excellent faculty. Faculty Parental Leave Policy SOM

A full-time faculty member who becomes the parent of a child, or whose spouse or domestic partner becomes the parent of a child, either by childbirth or through adoption of a minor child shall be entitled to a leave of up to twelve weeks. If a faculty member and his or her spouse or domestic partner would otherwise both be eligible for parental leave under this Policy, both may take this parental leave, but not simultaneously and not for more than a combined total of 12 weeks.

The request for this leave should be in writing to his or her department chair or, in the School of Nursing, the program director and appropriate associate dean. A copy of the agreement shall be submitted to the dean of the school. The agreement shall include a letter from the faculty member indicating that the purpose of the leave will be to serve as a primary caregiver for that child during the period of leave. The request should be made as soon as reasonably possible after the need for a leave becomes known in order to minimize the administrative burden of ensuring adequate coverage. The parental leave will ordinarily be taken in the perinatal period or near the time the child is placed for adoption. Special circumstances may be agreed upon with the approval of the department chair or, in the School of Nursing, the program director and appropriate dean. Such special circumstances must also receive endorsement from the dean of the school. The faculty member will be relieved of his or her normal duties and responsibilities during the period of leave. A faculty member who takes a parental leave is expected to return to active status.

The benefits afforded faculty under this policy are intended to be consistent and not in conflict with the rights afforded under the federal Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA). Any leave taken under this policy is intended to count as and run concurrent with FMLA leave, and the written agreement should clearly state that intention. Under the Tennessee Maternity Leave Act (TMLA) faculty who give birth may request up to four weeks of additional leave beyond the 12 weeks defined by this policy.

A faculty member who takes parental leave under this policy shall receive salary and benefits for up to six (6) weeks. For faculty on variable or performance salaries, the salary to be paid will be the average of the salary paid during the four months prior to the effective date of the leave. If additional weeks of leave are requested, full benefits but not salary will be maintained for up to a maximum of an additional 10 weeks.

For purposes of this policy, parental leave in the case of multiple birth or simultaneous placement for adoption of multiple children counts as one leave event.

Endorsed by the Executive Faculties of the School of Medicine and the School of Nursing. June, 2002

Faculty PAF for LOA

• Question: When are administrators required to complete a PAF to place a faculty member on LOA (i.e., FMLA, vacation, extended outside consulting time)?
  • Answer: For parental leave, for six weeks of salary portion, a PAF must be completed with center number provided by Department of Finance (Cindy Spann). PAF for LOA depends on the type of leave, if it is leave without pay, required to submit PAF.

-- DianeKolb - 10 May 2011