Staff members who are primary caregivers to a newborn baby or newly adopted child will be eligible for six weeks of leave at full pay, under a new parental leave policy developed by the human resources office. The policy goes into effect July 1 and is expected to cover employees who regularly work at least seventeen and a half hours weekly for at least nine months a year, and who have worked at MHC for at least one year.
"This policy has been under review for over a year and has included an extensive comparison of policies of other colleges and universities as well as a comparison with our current faculty policy," said director of human resources Lauren Turner. Previously, only faculty were eligible for paid parental leave; staff employees used sick time or vacation days.
Under the new policy, staff parental leave can be extended up to twelve weeks, either with or without pay, by applying other accrued paid leave, such as vacation and personal days. The faculty parental leave policy is semester-based, primarily to provide leave options that are least disruptive to teaching, according to Turner. One leave option is a semester off at half-salary.
Copies of the full policy are available from human resources.
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