All new parents, adoptive or biological, may request up to six (6) weeks of paid time off following the adoption or birth of a child (“Qualifying Event”). Employees must take paid parental leave in one continuous period of leave immediately following the birth/adoption of a child. Any unused paid parental leave will be forfeited. This policy will run concurrently with Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) leave, as applicable, and applies to births or adoptions.

In the case of eligible individuals who are employed under a contract that is less than 12 months, parental leave shall only be granted if (a) the Qualifying Event takes place while the employee is contracted to work and provide services or (b) if the six (6) week period following the Qualifying Event extends into time that the employee is contracted to work and providing services. In no case will the parental leave granted extend longer than the six (6) weeks following the Qualifying Event. The following examples are meant to demonstrate this policy as applied to individuals who are employed under a contract that is less than 12 months:

• A support employee on a 10-month contract (August 1 - May 31), adopts a child on May 15. They are eligible for parental leave from May 15 until May 31, the end date of their contract. They do not receive additional parental leave when they return to work in August because their contract starts more than six weeks after the child’s adoption.

• An instructional employee on a 10-month contract (August 1 - May 31), gives birth on June 1. She is not eligible for parental leave at the time of her child’s birth because she is not on contract. She will not receive parental leave in August because her contract starts more than six weeks after the child’s birth.

• The spouse of an instructional employee on a 10-month contract (August 1 - May 31), gives birth to a child on July 15. They are eligible for parental leave from August 1, the start of their contract, to August 26, six weeks after the birth of the child. They will not receive a full six weeks of parental leave because the child was born two weeks before the beginning of their 10-month contract.

The fact that a multiple birth or adoption occurs (e.g., the birth of twins or adoption of siblings) does not increase the total amount of paid parental leave granted for that event. In addition, in no case will an employee receive more than applicable paid parental leave in any rolling 12-month period measured backward from the date an employee uses the leave, regardless of whether more than one birth or adoption event occurs within that 12-month time frame.

Each week of paid parental leave is compensated at 100 percent of the employee’s regular, straight-time base weekly pay. Paid parental leave will be paid monthly on regularly scheduled pay dates.

If a holiday occurs while the employee is on paid parental leave and the employee would usually be entitled to holiday pay, such day will be paid as holiday pay. However, the occurrence of a holiday or a day when district offices are not open to conduct business shall not extend the maximum length of parental leave.

Upon separation of the individual’s employment at Northeast Tech, he or she will not be paid for any unused paid parental leave for which he or she was eligible.

Eligibility

Eligible employees must meet the following criteria:

• Have been employed for at least one year at Northeast Tech;

• Have worked at least 1,250 hours during the previous 12 months immediately preceding the date that the leave would begin; and

• Be a full-time employee of the district (part-time and temporary employees are not eligible for parental paid leave under this policy).

Full-time instructional employees are deemed to have met the 1,250 hours of employment requirement if they worked full-time during the prior school year. In addition, employees must meet one of the following criteria:

• Have given birth to a child.

• Be a spouse of a woman who has given birth to a child.

• Be the biological parent to a newborn child.

• Have newly been placed with a child for adoption purposes (the child must be under the age of 18). To qualify under this provision, the child being adopted must have resided with the employee for three (3) months or less when the parental leave is to begin. The adoption of a spouse’s child is excluded from this policy

Coordination with Other Policies

• Paid parental leave taken under this policy will run concurrently with leave under the FMLA; thus, any leave taken under this policy that falls under the definition of circumstances qualifying for leave due to the birth or placement of a child due to adoption, the leave will be counted toward the 12 weeks of available FMLA leave per a rolling 12-month period measured backward from the date an employee uses the leave. All other requirements and provisions under the FMLA will apply. o In no case will the total amount of leave—whether paid or unpaid—granted to the employee under the FMLA exceed 12 weeks during the 12-month rolling period measured backward from the date an employee uses the leave. Please refer to the Family and Medical Leave Policy for further guidance on the FMLA.

• Parental leave shall be in addition to sick leave and shall be taken first, after the birth of the employee’s child or the employee’s adoption of a child. After the paid parental leave is exhausted, the balance of FMLA leave (if applicable) will be compensated through the employee’s accrued sick, annual, personal, and emergency leave, if applicable. Upon exhaustion of accrued sick, annual, personal, and emergency leave any remaining leave will be unpaid leave. Please refer to the Family and Medical Leave Policy for further guidance on the FMLA.

• Where the cause is warranted a certified instructor, who has exhausted all sick leave, a period of up to twenty (20) additional days in keeping with School Laws of Oklahoma may be used by the employee at a substitute deduct rate O.S. 70-6-104.5.

• Northeast Tech will maintain all benefits for employees during the paid parental leave period just as if they were taking any other Northeast Tech paid leave such as accrued sick, annual, personal, and emergency leave.

Requests for Paid Parental Leave

The employee will provide his or her supervisor and the Human Resource Department with notice of the request for parental leave at least 30 days before the proposed date of the leave (or if the leave was not foreseeable, as soon as possible). The employee must complete the necessary HR forms and provide all documentation as required by the HR department to substantiate the request.

Amended by the Board of Education November 16, 1995
Amended 01-12-09, 04-08-19, 02-14-22, 07-10-23