Parental Leave

Paid parental leave is intended to be used for bonding during the period of time immediately following a NEW birth or placement of a child under the age of 18 with a NEW adoptive, foster, or custodial parent. 

Up to 320 leave hours (eight 40-hour weeks of leave) for eligible full-time employees. Leave is awarded as a number of hours which may be charged according to standard leave procedures.

An eligible employee working less than full-time (PTS and QNTs) may receive a pro-rated portion of leave in accordance with his/her full-time equivalence.

The leave is available to an eligible employee (from June 26, 2018 forward) on the date of the birth or placement of his/her child. Parental leave must be used within six months of the date of the birth/placement.

Employee must:

  • be a benefited classified employee, A&P faculty, part-time salaried non-teaching (PTS), quasi-full-time non-teaching (QNT), or 10-month or 12-month instructional faculty at the time of the birth/placement of the child under the age of eighteen AND
  • be eligible for FMLA coverage
    • must have worked for twelve months for the Commonwealth during the past seven years AND
    • must have worked for the Commonwealth for 1,250 hours during the twelve months immediately preceding the birth/placement of the child.


Wage employees are not eligible for benefits such as paid leave. A wage employee may be entitled to a job-protected absence with no pay for bonding up to 12 weeks (480 hours) if (s)he is eligible under FMLA.

Parental leave hours will be granted to an employee once the employe applies and is approved for parental leave. All employees are required to track their parental leave usage using MyMadison. (If you are unfamiliar with requesting leave in MyMadison, please view the Leave Entry How-to tutorial located here.) Supervisors may view their employee's parental leave usage in Manager Self-Service or MyMadison MyApprovals. If you are using parental leave in conjunction with a VSDP claim, please speak with your Benefits Specialist.

Non-exempt employees should use the "PL" leave code when updating their Time & Attendance Record.

If both parents are eligible for FMLA coverage, each of the parents may access up to 320 hours of paid parental leave. This is different from the current Family and Medical Leave (FMLA) policy where two parents in the same agency are limited to a combined total of 12 weeks’ absence.

If the full 320 hours are not used within the six (6) month period, the remaining time is forfeited. If the employee separates from the state before using the full 320 hours, unused parental leave hours are forfeited. There is no payout of unused parental leave hours.

If the employee transfers to a classified position at another state agency, the remaining parental leave will transfer just as other types of paid leave transfer. The six-month expiration date will remain the same. *Faculty should confirm with their new agency that parental leave is offered.*

No. This is considered one event that qualifies for one allotment of parental leave.
No. Parental leave is intended to be used for BONDING. Parental leave is not available for reasons covered by the Family and Medical Leave policy other than bonding. If the illness or injury occurs during parental leave, within the first six months of the birth or placement, this will still be considered bonding time, and the paid leave may be used.
Official University Closings and Holidays are not counted against parental leave. When employees are on paid parental leave the day before and the day after a holiday, they are afforded holiday pay for the holiday and parental leave is not charged for that day. This is consistent with the way other types of leave used around holidays are addressed.
Faculty who elected Faculty Sickness Disability (FSDP) upon hire will still receive 12 weeks of paid Faculty Family leave (FFL). Parental leave will run concurrently with Faculty Family leave to provide the full 12 weeks/480 hours. Faculty must meet with their Benefits Specialist to complete the necessary paperwork.
  • They may use parental leave beginning on the date the baby is born to supplement income replacement levels below 100% and use the remainder of their parental leave after disability benefits cease or
  • They may use other personal leave to supplement the income replacement and use their parental leave after their disability benefits cease or
  • They may remain at their VSDP eligible income replacement level, even if below 100%, and use their parental leave after disability benefits cease.
  • Parental leave may not be charged to cover the VSDP waiting period before the baby is born. If the baby is born during the waiting period, parental leave may be used to cover the waiting period beginning on the date of the birth.
  • Parental leave following the birth may be accessed even if the FMLA period has lapsed as long as the leave is used within six months of the birth.
They may use their traditional sick leave during the period when the doctor certifies that they are medically unable to work and would then use parental leave for bonding following their recovery.

FOR EMPLOYEES WHOSE BIRTHS/PLACEMENTS OCCURRED DECEMBER 26, 2017 THROUGH JUNE 25, 2018 (WITHIN SIX MONTHS PRIOR TO THE EXECUTIVE ORDER):

  • If the employee used paid personal leave (annual, family/personal, TSL, VSDP sick leave, compensatory, overtime, recognition) for bonding during the FMLA period, up to 320 hours of that leave time should be restored to the employee balances and charged instead to parental leave.
  • If the employee did not take an FMLA absence at the time, they may now use up to 320 hours of parental leave, as long as the 320 hours are used within six months of the birth/placement.
  • If the employee took an FMLA absence without pay, they may be paid for those hours by charging them to parental leave and may use any remaining parental leave - as long as the leave is used within six months of the birth/placement.
  • If the employee took a combination of paid personal leave and leave without pay during the FMLA absence, the personal leave should be restored and charged instead to parental leave.
  • If the employee used VSDP disability benefits at income replacement levels below 100% and charged personal leave to supplement the payments, their personal leave should be restored and charged instead to parental leave.
  • If the employee used VSDP disability benefits at income replacement levels below 100% and did not supplement the benefits by charging leave, parental leave should be charged to restore salary lost during this period.

Per Virginia code 2.2-3909, James Madison University does not unlawfully discriminate on the basis of pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical issues. You may have a right to reasonable accommodation for known limitations related to pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical issues. Reach out to your supervisor and your Human Resources Benefits Specialist if you have limitations related to pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical issues for which you seek an accommodation. You may be entitled to an interactive process to determine whether a specific accommodation is reasonable.

Under the law, reasonable accommodations may include:

  • More frequent or longer bathroom breaks
  • Breaks to express breast milk
  • Access to a private location other than a bathroom for the expression of breast milk
  • Acquisition or modification of equipment or access to or modification of employee seating
  • A temporary transfer to a less strenuous or hazardous position
  • Assistance with manual labor
  • Job restructuring
  • A modified work schedule
  • Light duty assignment
  • Leave to recover from childbirth

Back to Top
Human Resources
Wine-Price Building
MSC 7009
752 Ott Street
Harrisonburg, Virginia 22807
Email Us
540/568-6165
Fax: 540/568-7916
VA Relay 711
JMU-Human-Resources-horiz-purple.png