Section VI - Employment Matters

VI E 14

This is a temporary policy to be approved by the Board of Trustees in accordance with NC Session Law 2023-14. This temporary policy is effective retroactively to July 1, 2023, and shall remain in place until a formal policy is adopted by the State Board of Community Colleges and the College’s Board of Trustees. This temporary policy expires on the effective date of a permanent policy adopted by the Board of Trustees.

Leave - Paid Parental Leave

To state the College’s policy on Paid Parental Leave in accordance with G.S. 126-1 and 126-8.6

Randolph Community College will provide Paid Parental Leave (PPL) for employees in accordance with G.S. 126-1 and 126-8.6. The purpose is to promote families’ physical and mental health, increase worker retention, and improve worker productivity and morale.

Definitions

Eligible State Employee: A full-time or part-time employee in a permanent, probationary, or time-limited appointment who has been employed without a break in service by the State of North Carolina in a permanent, time-limited, or probationary appointment for the immediate twelve (12) preceding months and who is eligible for Family and Medical Leave (FML) by being in pay status for at least 1,040 hours in the previous twelve-month period, as set forth in 25 NC Administrative Code 01E.1402(a).

Parent: Either (a) the mother or father of a child through birth or legal adoption, or (b) an individual who cares for a child through foster or other legal placement under the direction of a government authority.

Child: A newborn biological child or a newly-placed adopted, foster, or otherwise legally placed child under the age of eighteen (18), whose Parent is an Eligible State Employee.

Paid Parental Leave: 100% paid leave to be provided to an Eligible State Employee either (a) upon the Eligible State Employee giving birth for both recuperation during the disability period and bonding with a newborn Child, or (b) to other Eligible State Employees to care for and bond with a newborn Child or newly adopted, foster, or otherwise legally placed Child.

Qualifying Life Event: When an Eligible State Employee becomes a Parent to a Child.

Public Safety Concern: A significant impairment to the State Agency’s (in this case, Randolph Community College) ability to conduct its operations in a manner protects the health and safety of North Carolinians. The extension of PPL to an Eligible State Employee may constitute a Public Safety Concern if:

1. Providing the PPL would result in College staffing levels below what is required
   by federal or state law to maintain operational safety; or
2. Providing the PPL may impact the health or safety of staff, faculty, and
   students, or other individuals that the College is required by law to protect; and
3. The College has been unable to secure supplemental staffing after requesting
   or diligently exploring alternative staffing options.

Responsibilities of the College

• Upon receiving a request for PPL and documentation from the Eligible State Employee, the College will respond to the employee within five (5) business days.
• For employees who gave birth: The College shall not deny, delay, or require intermittent use of paid parental leave to Eligible State Employees who have given birth, so long as they seek to use the paid parental leave in one continuous period. If an employee who gave birth wishes to use intermittent, rather than continuous, PPL, the College may work the employee on the timing of the leave.
• For all other employees: This paragraph applies only to Eligible State Employees who either (1) are not birthing parents, or (2) are seeking intermittent leave. For these parents, the agency may delay providing PPL or may provide PPL intermittently if it is determined that providing PPL will cause a Public Safety Concern.
• If the College determines that it must delay PPL, or make PPL intermittent because of a Public Safety Concern, the College shall provide PPL as soon as practical following the Qualifying Event.
• If both parents are Eligible State Employees, each may receive PPL. Both parents may take their leave simultaneously or at different times, pending no Public Safety Concern.

Additional College Responsibilities:

• No disciplinary action will be taken against an employee for being absent while on PPL. However, this provision does not prevent the employee from receiving disciplinary actions for conduct/performance as long as it is not related to the four or eight weeks of paid parental leave unless there is evidence of fraudulent use.
• The College may take appropriate action if there is evidence that the employee fraudulently requested, used, or otherwise abused PPL. This action may include revoking approval and disciplinary action up to and including dismissal.
• Employees that have begun approved PPL will not be required to return to work early due to staffing issues.

Employee Responsibilities

• Whenever possible, employees are required to submit a written request to notify the College (their supervisor and Human Resources) ten (10) weeks in advance of their intention to use PPL.
• Employees are required to comply with College leave request procedures, absent any unusual circumstances.
• An employee may withdraw their request for PPL at any time.
• Employees are required to certify that they will use PPL to give birth to a Child or will use PPL to care for or bond with a Child. Documentation for the birth of a Child or placement (if applicable) should be submitted within a reasonable time after the Qualifying Event. The initial certification form is required before the Qualifying Event (10 weeks in advance), unless the birth comes unexpectedly.

Acceptable documentation includes but is not limited to:

Documents provided must show the date of birth or date of placement, if placement was a date other than the date of birth. The name of the legal Parent must appear on some legal document establishing the birth or placement, such as the birth certificate, a legal document establishing paternity, or a legal document establishing adoption.

Use and Approval of Leave

• The College shall provide eight (8) weeks (320 hours) of PPL to Eligible Employees to care for and bond with a newborn Child or newly adopted, foster, or otherwise legally placed Child. The amount of PPL will not exceed eight (8) weeks.
• All PPL arrangements shall be written and include the responsibilities of both the College and the employee. Each participant in the PPL arrangement must sign the document that contains the terms of the PPL arrangement.
• Each week of PPL will be compensated at 100% of the employee’s regular monthly pay.
• PPL may be used only once for a Qualifying Event within a rolling twelve (12) month period. Note: A multiple birth or adoption or legal placement of siblings does not increase the total amount of paid parental leave for that event.
• Unused PPL is forfeited twelve (12) months from the date of the Qualifying Event.
• PPL shall not accrue or be donated to another state employee.
• Eligible Employees may not use accrued sick leave, annual leave, or other leave in lieu of PPL.
• PPL shall not be counted against or deducted from the Eligible Employee’s accrued leave balances.
• Employees shall not be paid out for PPL upon separation from the College. PPL shall also not be used for calculating an employee’s retirement benefits and shall not accrue or be donated as voluntary shared leave.
• Leave usage must be recorded in the same required increments as all other time.
• PPL shall be reported separately from all other paid leave. Employees and supervisors are responsible for accurate reporting of the use of this leave.
• If the employee requires leave before the actual birth, adoption, or legal placement due to medical reasons, or to fulfill legal adoption obligations, other available leave balances shall be utilized in accordance with the College’s leave policies. PPL shall not be used prior to the Qualifying Event.

Relationship of Paid Parental Leave to Family Medical Leave

• PPL will run concurrently with FMLA for the first eight (8) weeks. Employees using PPL are afforded the remaining job protection under FMLA for a total of twelve (12) weeks (480 hours). Accrued sick leave or vacation leave can be used during the remaining four (4) weeks to run concurrently with FMLA.
• An employee shall be eligible for PPL even if the employee has exhausted FML time in the previous twelve (12) months.
• If an employee becomes eligible for FMLA while on PPL, the employee must apply for and use FMLA and then PPL leave runs concurrently with FMLA.

Paid Parental Leave for Part-Time Employees

• Leave for part-time employees will be prorated from the College’s standard amount of PPL, as listed above, corresponding to the percentage of hours they normally are scheduled to work. However, PPL for part-time employees shall not exceed the following not-to-exceed amounts listed in G.S. 126-8.6:
  • Four weeks of paid leave after a Parent gives birth to a Child
  • Two weeks of paid leave after any other Qualifying Event

Adopted: 07/20/2023