3.5 Family and Medical Leave Policy
The following sections describe categories of leave that may be available to faculty who wish to reduce their responsibilities or take a leave of absence to meet family or personal obligations or needs. It should be noted that the leaves and other arrangements described in this document may extend the tenure clock and/or the length of a term appointment (see section 2.1.D(2) of this handbook for more information about this topic). It should also be noted that temporary instructors are frequently needed when faculty take family-related or medical leaves. When this is the case, department Chairs and school Deans are responsible for making the necessary appointment arrangements. If a faculty member does not apply for available disability benefits or for disability benefits, the School will not pay the equivalent of the disability benefit available under the University’s disability benefit programs.
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California’s Pregnancy Disability Leave Law (PDL) allows for leave of up to four months of disability leave due to medically certified, pregnancy-related disability. During pregnancy disability leave, the faculty member is expected to apply for disability insurance according to established procedures.
Stanford’s policy on Family and Medical Leave (FML) for Faculty follows the guidelines of the California Family Rights Act (CFRA) of 1991 (amended in 1993) and the federal Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993. This legislation provides for up to 12 weeks of job protected unpaid leave in any 12 month period for eligible employees for certain family and medical reasons. Family or medical leave may be taken for the following reasons:
Family Temporary Disability (FTD) insurance is available to all faculty members who participate in the Stanford Voluntary Disability Insurance (VDI) Plan or the California State Disability Insurance (SDI) Plan. It provides partial wage replacement during an approved Family and Medical Leave to care for a seriously ill family member or bonding with a new child.
Where the leave is for a faculty member’s own health condition, the University will pay the faculty member the difference between their short-term disability benefit (up to a maximum amount established each January 1st) and/or their long-term disability benefit (66 2/3%) and their full academic base salary for up to 52 weeks, or the end date of their faculty appointment, whichever comes first, provided they continue to be medically certified by a physician and otherwise meet the terms of the disability plan. The 52-week period starts from the initial certification date as designated
This University policy is intended to provide faculty who become new parents with additional flexibility in their work schedule at the time of the birth or adoption of the child. To that end, a faculty member who gives birth may request a reduced teaching load during the quarter of the birth and/or in the subsequent quarter, if these are quarters in which she is normally expected to teach.
Any faculty member, male or female, who becomes a parent whether by birth or adoption, may request a leave without salary of up to one year, at full or part-time, for the purpose of caring for the child. For a faculty member who gives birth, such a leave could be in addition to pregnancy disability leave; for all parents such leave should be in addition to a period of reduced teaching and clinical duties. Requests for childcare leave are subject to the normal approval process, but department Chairs and Deans are urged to give priority to such requests.
