Graduate Assistantships Family Medical Leave Policy

Purpose

Oregon State University has an interest in providing family and medical leave to eligible Graduate Assistants on a current assistantship, pursuant to this policy.

Eligibility

For parental leave, Graduate Assistants on a current assistantship appointed at .3 FTE during academic year 20-21 are eligible to take leave consistent with the remaining terms of this policy. For academic year 21-22 Graduate Assistants appointed .35 FTE are eligible to take leave consistent with the remaining terms of the is policy.  For academic year 22-23. Graduate Assistants appointed .38 FTE are eligible to take leave consistent with the remaining terms of this policy.

For all other leave due to a serious health condition, Graduate Assistants on a current assistantship appointed the FTE thresholds mentioned above for twelve (12) consecutive months or a full academic year are eligible to take leave consistent with the remaining terms of this policy. 

Definitions

Family” is defined as it is defined in the Oregon Family Medical Leave Act, which includes same-sex domestic partners.

Parental leave” is defined as it is defined in the Oregon Family Medical Leave Act. 

Serious health condition” is a condition that meets the definition of the same term in the federal Family Medical Leave Act.

Policy

All eligible Graduate Employees may take up to twelve weeks of a continuous block of leave from an active appointment as parental leave or to care for their own serious health condition or that of a family member. Starting October 1, 2020, OSU will cover the time with pay for three (3) weeks at the Graduate Employee’s current FTE. The Graduate Employee will have access to a continuation of benefits for the duration of their family leave for both paid and unpaid leave. To be eligible for family leave, a Graduate Employee must be on a current appointment or have been on an appointment in the term immediately prior to the leave of absence.

For parental leave, Graduate Assistants may take advantage of this leave policy once per new child.  For all other leave due to a serious health condition of the eligible Graduate Assistant or his/her family member, only one leave may be granted during their tenure at OSU. 

Intermittent leave periods are not available under this policy, although eligible Graduate Students may opt to take less than the full twelve-week period of leave.

One parental leave period will be shared by both parents if they are both entitled to family medical leave (by law or policy) from a position at OSU, although the distribution of the leave between the parents (100% by one parent, 50-50 between parents, etc.) is at the discretion of the parents. 

A leave taken under this policy does not extend a Graduate Assistant’s contractual appointment.  In other words, if a Graduate Assistant’s appointment ends during a leave period, the eligible Graduate Assistant’s position and leave period end at the same time.  Failure to return to an existing appointment upon completion of the leave may result in the Graduate Assistant’s having to repay the benefits received while on approved leave.         

Procedure

To request leave under this policy, a Graduate Assistant must establish a protected leave request in EmpCenter. UHR will follow the same procedures it follows for employee leave requests, to the extent not inconsistent with this policy.