PSU Human Resources

Pregnancy & Parental Leave

On this page, you will find information about medical leaves related to pregnancy and parental responsibilities. There are two types of leaves in this category:

  1. Pregnancy Disability
    1. Leave (a form of serious health condition leave) taken by a pregnant employee for an incapacity related to pregnancy or childbirth, occurring before or after the birth of the child, or for prenatal care.
  2. Parental Leave
    1. Leave needed during the year following the birth of a child or adoption or foster placement of a child under 18, or a child 18 or older if incapable of self-care because of a mental or physical disability. Parental leave includes leave to effectuate the legal process required for foster placement or adoption.
  3. Pregnancy Leaves Notes and Tips
  4. Checklist for When Baby is Born

 

Pregnancy Disability Leave (FMLA and OFLA)

How much leave can I take?

Will I be paid during this time?

  • You will receive pay if you use accrued paid leave (sick, vacation, personal).
  • Staff in Classified and Unclassified positions must use sick leave prior to the use of other forms of PSU-provided paid leave.
    • Staff in Unclassified positions can hold all other leave.
    • Staff in Classified positions are required to use any available accrued leave with the exceptions of 40 hours of vacation leave.
  • If an employee has enrolled in third-party short-term disability, they are eligible to use that in conjunction with other forms of paid leave. For instructions on how to initiate a short-term disability claim, refer to this checklist or reach out to leaves@pdx.edu.

How do I apply for FMLA/OFLA Pregnancy Disability/Parental leave?

When should I make an appointment to see the leaves manager?

  • At least a month before the expected leave.

 

Parental Leave (FMLA/OFLA)

How much leave can I take?

  • 12 weeks.
  • Can be consecutive or intermittent.
  • Must be used within a year of the child’s birth.

Who can take parental leave?

  • Birth parents, adoptive parents, and foster parents.

Will I be paid during this time?

  • You will receive pay if you use accrued paid leave (sick, vacation, personal).
  • Staff in Classified and Unclassified positions must use sick leave during a protected leave.
  • Staff in Unclassified positions can hold all other leave.
  • Staff in Classified positions are required to use any available accrued leave with the exception of 40-hours of sick leave.

How do I apply for FMLA/OFLA Parental leave?

When should I make an appointment to see the leaves manager?

  • At least one-month before the expected leave.

Pregnancy Disability Leave Notes & Tips

Leave should be requested at least 30-days in advance of your due date. To complete and submit your Protected Leaves Request form, you will need your Odin login ID and password. Once the form is submitted, download and complete the WH-380 E FMLA/OFLA Certification of Health Care Provider for Employee's Serious Health Condition. This must be completed by your attending health care provider to establish your pregnancy disability period.

  • The certification must be received by Human Resources no later than 15-days after the baby's birth.
  • FMLA provides 12-weeks only of protected leave for any reason and runs concurrently with OFLA.
  • OFLA provides 12-weeks for parental leave and up to 12 additional weeks of leave for pregnancy disability.
  • As the birth parent you are generally entitled up to 18-20-weeks of combined FMLA/OFLA protected, unpaid leave including 6-8-weeks of recovery disability following the birth and 12-weeks of parental leave.
  • You are required to exhaust all paid sick, etc. prior to leave without pay while on protected leave.
  • Parental leave can be used intermittently, in a block of time, or a combination of both up to the baby's first birthday.
  • If you have enrolled in short term disability (STD)
    • Pregnancy disability qualifies for use of short term disability.
    • There is a 7 calendar day waiting period to receive benefits after disability is established, which is normally the day the baby is born.
    • You can choose to use paid sick leave for the first week's waiting period and then hold until STD benefits end. This should be noted on your request for leave.
    • Any leave taken prior to the establishment of disability (usually the baby's birth) must be taken as paid vacation or leave without pay and is not applicable to FMLA/OFLA.

During your period of pregnancy disability, you cannot work at all.

Contact leaves@pdx.edu or book an appointment for a 1-on-1 Informational Session on Protected Leaves.

Checklist for when baby is born

  1. Call/email HR within the first week after the baby is born to inform us of the delivery date.
  2. If necessary, follow up on the medical certification from your doctor.
    1. Initiate a Short Term Disability claim with The Standard
    2. Call The Standard at 1-800-842-1707.
    3. Advise The Standard that you are from Portland State University and a member of PEBB.
    4. Notify The Standard that you are applying for short term disability and that the group policy number is 442210-D.
    5. Answer the questions that The Standard asks.

Note: There is a 7 calendar day waiting period before benefits begin. The Standard may take up to 2-weeks to make a decision and they will ask for information from your treating physician.

  1. Enroll your baby in benefits coverage within 30 days of birth. Follow this link to access all PEBB forms.
  2. Use the Mid-Year Change form and submit it to HR.
    1. Take it step by step:
    2. Complete all information on page 1.
    3. Complete all information and demographics for the eligible dependent on page 2.
    4. Be sure to check all ‘enroll’ boxes (Medical, Dental, & Vision) when completing the eligible dependent information.
    5. Check the box for ‘birth’ and fill in the date on page 4.
    6. If you are not making changes to any plans, you are encouraged to leave pages 5-8 blank. If you are making some changes to specific plans, only complete the specific sections for those plans. Leave the others blank. If you are enrolling the baby in current plans, there is no need to complete this information.
    7. Certify and sign the last page (page 8).
    8. Return the entire form including any blank pages to Human Resources, Attn: Gina Turner via fax (503-725-5896) or submit via email to benefits@pdx.edu.

You must complete a FMLA/OFLA Leave Tracking Form by the 10th of the month following each month in which you take leave.

Download a copy of this list about this content

Additional Resources

If you still have questions please contact leaves@pdx.edu