Danforth Campus Faculty Medical, Parental, and Caregiver Leave Policy

I. Scope

This policy provides eligible Danforth Campus faculty members with paid leave for covered medical and parental purposes.

II. Eligibility

Full‐time faculty members may request leave if they are unable to work and need one or more of the following leaves

• Medical Leave: A serious health condition that makes the employee unable to perform the essential functions of their job (e.g., surgery, pregnancy-related medical conditions prior to delivery, medical complications following childbirth, and other illness, injury or mental health condition).
• Parental Leave: Bonding leave taken within the first year following the birth of a child or the placement of a child via adoption, surrogacy, or foster care, or leave for routine recovery from childbirth (including caesarean section).
• Caregiver Leave: Care of the employee’s spouse/domestic partner, child, or parent with a serious health condition.

III. Salary, Benefits and Responsibilities During Leave

Parental Leave: Faculty members will be granted up to 15 weeks of paid leave in a rolling 12-month period. Such leave will be paid at the faculty member’s base salary rate. 

Medical Leave: Faculty members will be granted up to 26 weeks of paid leave in a rolling 12-month period. The first 12 weeks of such leave will be paid at the faculty member’s base salary rate and thereafter will be paid at 60% of the base salary rate.

Caregiver Leave: Faculty members who are eligible for FMLA leave will be granted up to a total of 12 weeks of leave in a rolling 12-month period. Whether and to what extent such leave will be with pay is within the discretion of the school Dean in consultation with Human Resources.

Benefits eligibility continues during paid leave in accordance with the terms of the relevant benefit plan. Faculty members remain financially responsible for the cost of benefits during any period of leave for which they remain eligible for coverage.

Faculty members will be relieved of normal duties and responsibilities during the leave. Faculty members are not eligible for leave pay during a time in which salary is not normally paid.

IV. Requesting Leave

Eligible faculty members must submit a request to the WashU Human Resources leaves team at mytimeoff@wustl.edu and provide the WashU leaves team all required documentation, including healthcare provider certification where applicable. They also must provide written notice to the Dean and, if applicable, the Department Chair. 

For foreseeable events, the faculty member must make their request at least 30 days in advance. If advance notice is not possible given the circumstances, notification should be made as soon as the faculty member is aware of the need for leave.

The WashU Human Resources leaves team will notify the faculty member and the Dean or Department Chair regarding approval or denial of a leave request.

This policy is intended to cover absences of at least one week in duration. For absences less than one week, the faculty member should consult with their department.

Parental Leave must be taken in consecutive weeks but may be split into any combination of two blocks of consecutive time (e.g., 6 consecutive weeks and 9 consecutive weeks). Summer break does not count against Parental Leave time. Parental Leave may be taken within one semester or split across semesters if needed based on the timing of the birth or placement.

Leave cannot extend beyond the term of a faculty member’s appointment, unless a consecutive reappointment will begin immediately upon the conclusion of the current one.

A return-to-work certification from a healthcare provider is required to return from leave due to medical need. Certifications must be sent to the WashU Human Resources leaves team at mytimeoff@wustl.edu.

If the faculty member’s spouse or domestic partner also is a full-time Danforth Campus faculty member, both will be eligible for parental leave under this policy. In such cases, the leaves can be taken simultaneously, consecutively, or partially overlapping.

V. Effect on Tenure Probationary Period

For faculty members in their tenure probationary period, time spent on leave under this policy will not count toward the probationary period. To avoid the administrative difficulties that may result from deviations from the ordinary tenure review schedule, the tenure clock will be paused for one year for a leave or combination of leaves of 15 weeks or more within a 12-month period. A leave or combination of leaves of fewer than 15 weeks within a 12-month period will pause the tenure clock for the duration of the leave(s) (e.g., 6 weeks of leave would result in a 6-week pause in the tenure clock). The timing of any intermediate or major reviews during the probationary period will be adjusted as appropriate and consistent with the revised tenure review schedule.

VI. Concurrent Leaves and Payments

Paid leave taken under this policy will run concurrently with any other available leave (e.g., FMLA leave), unless otherwise prohibited by applicable law. Paid leave taken under this policy also will run concurrently with any other paid absence benefit (e.g., under another policy or a benefit plan), with any paid leave benefit under this policy being offset so that a combination of all payments will not exceed 100% of the faculty member’s base salary, unless otherwise provided by applicable law.

In the event a faculty member requires additional leave beyond the maximum paid leave provided by this policy, the leave will be unpaid unless another paid absence benefit is available from a different policy, benefit plan, or other source.

The university reserves the right to modify this policy in whole or in part at any time.