Unpaid Leave for Military Service

The College grants leaves when employees are absent from work due to service in any of the U.S. Armed Forces, including reserve units and the National Guard. These leaves will be granted in full conformity with the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (“USERRA”) and analogous state law. Contact the Office of Human Resources for more information about such leaves.

Family and Medical Leave Act

The College grants unpaid leaves of absence in compliance with the federal Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA). To be eligible, an employee must have worked for the College at least 12 months (not necessarily consecutive) as well as 1,250 hours in the 12 months prior to when the leave is to begin. Up to 12 weeks of FMLA leave during a 12-month period will be provided for:

1. The birth/adoption of the employee’s child, or placement of a child with the employee for foster care, in order to care for the child. The leave must be taken within 12 months of the birth/adoption/placement.
2. To care for the employee’s spouse, domestic partner, child, or parent with a serious health condition, or for the employee’s own serious health condition that renders them unable to perform their job functions.
3. Because of any qualifying exigency due to the employee’s spouse, domestic partner, child, or parent being notified of a call to or serving on covered active duty in the U.S. Armed Forces.
4. Haverford also will grant up to 26-workweeks of FMLA leave in a single 12-month period to an employee who is the spouse, domestic partner, son, daughter, parent, or next of kin of a covered service member in the U.S. Armed Forces with serious injury or illness to care for the service member. 

If both an employee and their spouse are employed by Haverford and eligible for leave, certain spousal combined limits on maximum FMLA leave entitlements will apply. Please contact Human Resources for details on the combined limits.

For leaves numbered 1 through 3 above, Haverford uses a rolling backward 12-month period. The single 12-month period for covered service member leave begins on the first day the eligible employee takes this type of leave, and during the period, an employee cannot receive more than 26 weeks of leave for all types of FMLA leave.

A supervisor aware of an absence that may qualify for FMLA leave is to contact Human Resources promptly. An employee must submit a written request for leave to the Office of Human Resources at least 30 days in advance, if the need for leave is foreseeable to that extent; if not, then as soon as practical and at least within two working days of learning of a need for leave. An employee’s failure to provide proper notice may result in the delay of the start of or denial of leave.

Once aware of an absence that may be FMLA-qualifying, the Office of Human Resources will send the employee notices of general eligibility for leave and of rights and responsibilities under the FMLA, as well as various forms for completion. The employee will be required to support a leave request with appropriate documentation as follows:

1. Leave due to a serious health condition: medical certification issued by a treating healthcare provider on a Certification of Healthcare Provider Form, and any subsequent re-certifications required by Haverford.
2. Leave for the birth, adoption, or foster-care placement of a child:acceptable supporting documentation.
3. Qualifying exigency leave: copy of the military member’s active duty orders or other similar documentation issued by the military, and certification on a Certification of Qualifying Exigency for Military Family Leave form.
4. Covered service member leave: certification completed by the employee/covered service member and the authorized health care provider on a Certification of Serious Injury or Illness of a Covered Service Member form.

The employee must submit complete and sufficient supporting documentation to the Office of Human Resources within 15 days after receiving the applicable request for information and form(s) from Haverford College. If the employee does not, the start of the leave may be delayed until the documentation is submitted, or the leave may be denied. If denied, unexcused absences may result in discipline, up to and including termination.

At the College’s expense, an employee may be required to obtain a second medical opinion from a healthcare provider chosen by Haverford, and if the first two opinions differ, may also be required to obtain a third opinion by a healthcare provider chosen jointly by the employee and Haverford. Generally, the third opinion will be binding. Pending receipt of a second or third opinion, provisional FMLA will be extended. However, if a right to FMLA leave is not ultimately substantiated, the time away from work will not count as FMLA leave and any unexcused absences may result in discipline, up to and including termination.

Upon receipt by Haverford of documentation verifying that an employee’s requested leave is FMLA-qualifying, it will be formally designated as such and communicated to the employee within five business days. If need for leave extends beyond the initial period approved, a request for an extension must be made to the Office of Human Resources. Extensions of Leave, including additional leave as a reasonable accommodation, will be considered by College.

In all cases, both paid and unpaid FMLA-qualifying absences will be counted as FMLA leave. Employees must first use any unused paid time off for leave appropriate to the reason for leave which the employee has available and/or has been approved by the College (vacation, sick, parental, childbirth, medical, or other paid time off) before being placed in an unpaid status during the FMLA leave.

An employee will be directed to periodically report during their leave to the Office of Human Resources, and failure to comply may affect the employee’s leave and/or employment status.

During leave, the College will continue to provide the same level of insurance benefits as were available to the employee at the start of the leave—provided the employee remains in a paid status or, if in an unpaid status, the employee pays premiums they would otherwise have as an active employee. Failure to pay the premiums may result in termination of program participation for that benefit.

Respecting eligibility to participate and/or for vesting in the College’s retirement plan, the FMLA leave period will be treated as continuous service. As during any unpaid leave, crediting of benefits will cease and will resume upon return to active employment in an eligible classification.

An employee must notify Haverford of the employee’s intent to return to work from FMLA leave as far in advance of the expected return date as possible. In the case of leave due to a serious health condition of a family member and/or serious injury or illness of a service member, the employee must promptly notify the Office of Human Resources when the employee is no longer needed to provide care. An employee is expected to return to work from FMLA leave on the first scheduled workday after the end of the date through which the leave (including any extension(s) was approved. Failure to do so may result in corrective action, up to and including termination.

Prior to returning to work from a leave due to their own serious health condition, the employee will be required to submit a fitness for duty certification. Their return to work may be delayed until a satisfactory certification is received, and failure to provide such certification may result in discipline, up to and including termination.

If an employee fails to return to work at the end of the FMLA for reasons other than the continuation, recurrence, or onset of a certified serious health condition or any other circumstances beyond the employee’s control, Haverford may recover its costs for maintaining group health coverage during the employee’s FMLA leave. However, if the failure to return is due to circumstances beyond the employee’s control, Haverford may not recover costs, provided the employee submits certification of the serious health condition within 30 days of the date requested. Failure to submit such certification within the 30 days may result in Haverford’s recovering its share of the costs of providing the employee coverage.

When an employee takes an FMLA leave for the intended purposes of the leave, returns from leave in a timely fashion, and provides all completed documentation required by Haverford, they will be reinstated to the position they held when the leave began or to an equivalent one. Reinstatement may be denied when allowed by law.

Generally and unless otherwise required by applicable law, an employee who has been absent from work on a leave or combination of leaves (approved, pending or denied) and who has exhausted both the time off (paid or unpaid) to which the employee is entitled under an applicable statute and Haverford-provided benefits for paid leave, will be terminated from the payroll. Questions about FMLA leave should be directed to human resources.

Unpaid Leave of Absence: Staff

An unpaid leave of absence, which may be granted by the College at its discretion, is a formally authorized period away from the job. A department supervisor, with the approval of the Associate Vice President, may grant an unpaid leave of absence to a benefits-eligible  staff employee for a period of up to six months (or 12 months for faculty). A leave of absence generally will be for the purposes of study, travel, or otherwise engaging in professional growth or development. A prerequisite of such leave is an assurance that the responsibilities of the employee going on leave can be handled appropriately in the department. Normally, to be eligible for a leave of absence, the employee must have completed at least one year of continuous employment prior to the beginning of the leave. An additional three months may be granted if circumstances warrant.

During such approved Leave of Absence, the College will continue to carry the staff employee in its medical insurance plan only if the employee pays the full monthly premium. No contribution to the retirement plan will be made by the College on the employee’s behalf, as this program is a function of salary earned. The College will not continue long-term disability or group life insurance during the leave. No vacation or sick leave benefits are awarded during the leave, and leave time is not added to length of service.

Funeral Leave

If an employee is full-time and someone in their immediate family dies, Haverford will grant a leave with pay for up to five days to attend the funeral. For these purposes, “immediate family” is considered to be one’s spouse or domestic partner, child, parent, sibling, or legal guardian. In addition, if a grandparent, grandchild, or father-/mother-in-law dies, an employee may take up to three days with pay to attend the funeral. If an aunt, uncle, nephew, niece, or brother-/sister-in-law dies, an employee will be granted one day with pay to attend the funeral. If a relative dies who is not in one of the aforementioned groups, or if an employee should need more time and has already expended available personal and/or vacation days, the College is willing to work out an appropriate unpaid leave of absence. 

Assistance is also available to College employees through Carebridge.

Jury Duty

Employees who are selected for jury duty must enter such time in Workday and notify their supervisor of the date before actual jury duty begins. Employees will be paid their regular salary for this time. Employees may retain any payment they receive for jury duty from the federal government, state, or municipality.