Definition:
A leave for eligible teammates (teammates who are in a 20+ standard hour position) to care for a child newly added to their home through birth, adoption, or legal placement.
Overview
- All eligible teammate parents receive 4 consecutive weeks of paid leave under parental benefit.
- Eligible teammate parents giving birth receive a combined total of 6 weeks consecutive weeks of paid leave (combining paid parental leave and additional time for recovery) under the parental benefit.
- Medical and/or FMLA leave runs concurrently with parental leave.
- Teammates eligible for FMLA benefits may take up to a total of 12 work weeks of unpaid, job-protected leave under the Family and Medical Leave to bond with a newborn child or for a newly placed adopted or foster child.
- Teammates giving birth who are not eligible for FMLA benefits will:
- Automatically have their request reviewed to see if they are eligible for Atrium Health’s Medical Leave Plan (Non-FMLA).
Additional Information
- Parental Leave may be taken on a continuous basis only.
Getting Paid
- Compensation is at 100% of the teammate’s base pay for the paid portion of the approved parental leave.
- The Parental Navigator in HR Leave Administration is responsible for entering parental pay during an approved parental leave for parents who are not giving birth.
- Compensation for bi-weekly teammates who give birth will be paid by MetLife, our Short-Term Disability Benefit Carrier, as Atrium Health partners with MetLife to administer pay for birth parents during parental leave.
- Teammates who give birth should contact MetLife to initiate their claim for Short-Term Disability by calling 1-800-421-7014.
- Teammates have the option to either go unpaid or use accrued benefit time (PTO) if they are taking additional leave time beyond the approved parental leave and after the Short-Term Disability benefit ends if applicable.
Returning From Leave
- All teammates returning to work from Parental Leave must complete the Return from Family Care Leave form and upload it in LeavePro prior to the end of the leave.
- Teammates who are parents who give birth must be cleared by their health care provider before returning to work in addition to submitting the Return from Family Care Leave form.
- Teammates can provide their healthcare provider with the Fitness for Duty form that is included in their determination letter, to indicate that the teammate can return to work.
Next Steps
Teammates who would like to proceed with requesting a leave of absence, can log into LeavePro to begin this process. To request a leave in LeavePro, teammates should select “Plan a Leave”. For the type, teammates should select “Pregnancy/Maternity” if they will be giving birth. Teammates who will be caring or bonding with a child newly added to their home but will not be giving birth should select “Other”, then the applicable option (Adoption, Care for Newborn, and Foster Care) under “Pregnancy or Adoption/Foster Placement".
