Chapter 3H

Prior to the birth, adoption, or foster placement of a child, a faculty member notifies their associate dean for the division/SEAS of the expected birth, adoption, or foster placement. Faculty should provide as much advance notice as practicable; except in the case of adoption or foster placement, where advance notice is not always possible, faculty are expected to provide no less than three months’ notice.

Once the associate dean has been notified, it is their responsibility to inquire in which term the faculty member desires leave (and/or, for example, co-teaching). To maximize available benefits, faculty considering time away are encouraged to discuss their leave and other options with their divisional/SEAS associate dean.

To request a leave related to family (including parental), medical, or personal situations, please contact the associate dean for your division/SEAS. Because of the nature of such leaves, there is no single deadline for submission of requests, but faculty members are asked to submit them as early as possible so that departments can make appropriate adjustments to cover their teaching and service responsibilities. Leaves, as appropriate, are subject to the approval of the Dean or the Dean's designee.

In some cases, appointment extensions are available to tenure-track faculty who take a non-research leave. Policies related to such extensions are described below; faculty members should contact the associate dean of the appropriate division/SEAS to discuss their individual situations. 

The FAS is committed to supporting faculty members who seek to balance the joys and demands of caring for newly born, adopted, or foster-placed children with professional growth and responsibilities as well as any medical issues. We also recognize the research that establishes the benefits of providing leave to mothers and fathers: parent-child bonding, improved outcomes for children, and increased gender equity at home and work.

Below, we describe the one-year limit that ordinarily applies to research leaves and family (including parental) leave. We then discuss the following:

• Federal leave statutes relevant to family leave (i.e., Family and Medical Leave Act [FMLA] and Military Family Leave Entitlements)
• Massachusetts Parental Leave Act (MPLA) 
• Harvard’s leave benefits for new parents, in keeping with the Massachusetts Paid Family and Medical Leave policy (MAPFML)

a.   One-Year Limit

Under the ordinary application of the policies governing research leaves and family (including parental) leave, faculty members should not, ordinarily, be out of the Harvard classroom for more than one year (i.e., two terms) at a time. This one-year limit for new or expecting parents is inclusive of any combination of unpaid FMLA leave, unpaid MPLA leave, MAPFML leave, and the University’s and the FAS’s leave polices in keeping with MAPFML policy (e.g., including the University’s MAPFML paid medical leave, the University’s MAPFML Bonding Leave, FAS Paid Parental Leave (FAS PPL), and the FAS Parental Semester of Leave (FAS PSL)). Exceptions to this one-year limit policy may be made for tenure-track faculty whose child is born, adopted, or foster-placed during a yearlong research leave; tenure-track faculty whose child is expected to be born, adopted, or foster-placed in a term following a yearlong research leave; or when medically indicated.

b.  Federal Leave Statutes

  i.   Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 (FMLA)

The Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 requires the FAS to grant eligible employees up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave (to be taken and completed during a 12-month period) for any of the following reasons:

     a) For the birth of a child and to care for an employee’s child within 12 months of birth, adoption, or the initiation of foster care;

     b) To care for a parent, child, or spouse with a serious health condition; or

     c) Because the employee’s own serious health condition makes the employee unable to perform the employee's job.

Under Harvard policy, faculty members (ladder and non-ladder) and those holding professional research appointments are deemed eligible for the provisions of FMLA if they have held at least half-time appointment in the FAS for three consecutive months or more. Harvard will continue to make the standard contribution to group health insurance during a leave covered by the FMLA. However, if the leave is unpaid, the individual on leave will be billed for the individual's share of the contribution. In certain cases, other Harvard policies and benefit programs may provide salary continuation and additional benefits.

Those holding faculty and professional research appointments who are eligible for FMLA coverage may take no more than 12 weeks FMLA leave during each 12-month period beginning on the first day that any FMLA leave is used. However, exhaustion of the 12 weeks of leave provided for in the FMLA will not necessarily limit an individual’s eligibility for additional leaves, as provided for by FAS policy.

Under FMLA (and in keeping with the MPLA), as described below, eligible FAS faculty (i.e., those who have held at least half-time appointment in the FAS for three consecutive months or more) can take up to 12 weeks of unpaid FMLA leave for the birth of a child and to care for a child within 12 months of birth, adoption, or the initiation of foster care. The provisions of FMLA apply to all parents, i.e., birth parents and non-birth parents alike.

  ii.   Military Family Leave Entitlements 

Eligible employees with a spouse, son, daughter, or parent on active duty or call to active duty status in the Armed Forces, National Guard, or Reserves in a foreign country or in support of a contingency operation may use their 12-week leave entitlement to address certain qualifying exigencies. Qualifying exigencies may include attending certain military events, arranging for alternative childcare, addressing certain financial and legal arrangements, attending certain counseling sessions, and attending post-deployment reintegration briefings.

FMLA also includes a special leave entitlement that permits eligible employees to take up to 26 weeks of leave to care for a covered service member during a single 12-month period. A covered service member is (1) a current member of the Armed Forces, National Guard, or Reserves who has a serious injury or illness incurred in or aggravated by service in the line of duty on active duty that may render the service member medically unfit to perform the service member's duties and for which the service member is undergoing medical treatment, recuperation, or therapy; or is in outpatient status; or is on the temporary disability retired list; or (2) a veteran undergoing such medical treatment, recuperation, or therapy for a serious injury or illness and who was a member of the Armed Forces, National Guard, or Reserves at any time during the five years preceding the date of such treatment, recuperation, or therapy.

c.  Massachusetts Parental Leave Act (MPLA)

Under the Massachusetts Parental Leave Act, a faculty member who has been employed for at least three months is entitled to eight weeks of unpaid leave to care for a newborn or newly-adopted child. In most cases, this leave entitlement is superseded by another, more generous, leave available under the FMLA or University and/or FAS policies in keeping with MAPFML.

d.  Massachusetts Paid Family and Medical Leave (MAPFML)

For more information on the Massachusetts Paid Family and Medical Leave [MAPFML] policies that went into effect on January 1, 2021, please see Harvard’s “Massachusetts Paid Family and Medical Leave” website.

Please contact your associate dean for faculty affairs if you have questions. 

e.  Harvard Policies

Taking into account FMLA, MPLA, MAPFML, and Harvard policies, FAS faculty members who become parents have a number of options available to them. Below is a summary of leave benefits for, respectively: i. FAS professors of all ranks, ii. Senior Lecturers and Senior Preceptors, iii. FAS multi-year non-professorial faculty of certain ranks and multi-year researchers of certain ranks, iv. annual non-professorial faculty, visiting faculty, and other academic appointments, and v. postdoctoral fellows. You may also see https://faculty.harvard.edu/sites/g/files/omnuum841/files/faculty-diversity/files/mapfml_summary_faculty_2021.pdf for more information on leave benefits for new parents in keeping with MAPFML.

Effective January 1, 2021, the FAS’ and University’s new policies in keeping with MAPFML policy supersede the FAS’ previous benefits for new or expecting parents.

As mentioned in Section 3H1, “Approval of Leave Requests,” prior to the birth, adoption, or foster placement of a child, a faculty member notifies their associate dean for the division/SEAS of the expected birth, adoption, or foster placement. Faculty should provide as much advance notice as practicable; except in the case of adoption or foster placement, where advance notice is not always possible, faculty are expected to provide no less than three months’ notice. Once the associate deans are notified, it is their responsibility to inquire in which term the faculty member desires leave (and/or, for example, co-teaching).

To maximize available benefits, faculty considering time away are encouraged to discuss their leave and other options with their divisional/SEAS associate dean as soon as practicable. Departments are expected to accommodate faculty members who wish to avail themselves of these forms of support. The chair consults with the associate dean regarding the arrangements for teaching responsibilities.

Please contact your associate dean for faculty affairs if you have questions.

Forms of support for: 

      i.   FAS Professors of All Ranks

     ii.  Senior Lecturers and Senior Preceptors

    iii.  FAS multi-year non-professorial faculty of certain ranks and multi-year researchers of certain ranks

    iv.  Annual non-professorial faculty, visiting faculty, and other academic appointments

    v.  Postdoctoral fellows

A tenure-track faculty member may request an extension of his/her/their existing appointment on the basis of a serious health condition such as serious physical or mental impairment that prevents the fulfillment of normal duties. The written request is sent to the associate dean for the appropriate division/SEAS, with a copy to the department chair. Such requests are subject, as appropriate, to the approval of the FAS Dean or the Dean's designee.

If the requested extension is approved, the new dates of appointment are confirmed in writing to the faculty member, with a copy to the department chair(s).

As noted above, in Section 3.H.3.e.i.g (“For Tenure-Track Faculty: Childcare Appointment Extension and Postponement of Review Policies”), effective July 1, 2023, tenure-track faculty who take a medical leave of eight weeks or longer (including medical leave associated with childbirth) will be given the option of also taking a one-year extension to their current appointment. If the faculty member opts to take the one-year extension, the faculty member will also be eligible for one semester of teaching relief. The semester of teaching relief must be used during the faculty member’s current appointment (i.e., the appointment they hold during the time of their leave) and before their next promotion review year. The only exception to this policy is if a faculty member takes a medical leave during their associate review year; in that case, they can use the term of teaching relief during their associate professor term and before their tenure review year, assuming the associate review is successful. Faculty may not, ordinarily, be out of the classroom for more than one year at a time. If a faculty member comes up for promotion review early and has not yet made use of this term of teaching relief, the teaching relief will not carry over into their subsequent appointment if successfully promoted or into the last year of their appointment if not promoted. 

By way of example, tenure-track faculty who use this benefit after giving birth are eligible to receive the following, for each birth:

• The forms of University and FAS leave described in Section 3.H.3.e.i. (“Forms of support for FAS professors of all ranks”) of the FAS Appointment and Promotion Handbook. Namely:
  • University MAPFML Medical Leave (up to 6 months fully paid, and typically 8 weeks fully paid for a non-complicated childbirth)
  • FAS Paid Parental Leave (FAS PPL) (up to 4 weeks fully paid)
  • Either University MAPFML Bonding Leave (up to 4 weeks fully paid, and up to 8 weeks partially paid; this Bonding Leave runs concurrently with FAS PPL, if FAS PPL is elected), or an FAS Parental Semester of Leave (FAS PSL) (one semester off, fully paid)
• The automatic childcare appointment extension given to faculty parents, as described in Section 3.H.3.e.i.g (“For Tenure-Track Faculty: Childcare Appointment Extension and Postponement of Review Policies”) of the FAS Appointment and Promotion Handbook. 
• An optional additional appointment extension associated with medical leave.
• An optional semester of course relief. Please work with your Divisional/SEAS associate dean and department/area chair on the timing of this leave. Faculty may not, ordinarily, be out of the classroom for more than one year at a time.

In total, this amounts to two one-year appointment extensions, a term of course relief, and medical and other forms of leave, for each birth.

Ordinarily, if an appointment is extended by a year for medical reasons, any promotion review (whether from assistant to associate professor or from associate to tenured professor) is postponed by a year as well. However, if the appointment extension for medical reasons takes place after a review is already underway, the review is not ordinarily postponed, and the extension is added to the term of reappointment or promotion.
    
Please see Section 3e.i.g, “Childcare Appointment Extension and Postponement of Review Policies for Tenure-Track Faculty,” for information on extensions and postponements in connection with the birth or adoption of a child.

a.   Personal Leave

Unpaid leave may be granted to ladder faculty members (assistant, associate, or tenured professors), professors in residence, Benjamin Peirce Fellows, professors of the practice, senior preceptors, or senior lecturers (if that title is not dependent upon an administrative appointment) for compelling personal reasons (for example, the care of a seriously ill spouse, partner, parent, or child). The FAS may count personal leaves toward the fulfillment of the FMLA 12-week leave entitlement, if the reason for the leave meets the FMLA criteria.

Unpaid personal leaves do not count as accrued time when calculating someone’s eligibility for a paid sabbatical or paid research leave in the future; however, there is also no penalty levied for taking a personal leave, in this regard: the counting of terms in residence, towards future leave eligibility, does not necessarily restart at “1” after someone returns from personal leave. The count resumes where it left off before the personal leave. Written requests are submitted to the associate dean for the appropriate division and are subject, as appropriate, to approval by the FAS Dean or the Dean's designee.

b.   Personal Appointment Extension and Postponement of Review for Tenure-Track Faculty

A tenure-track faculty member may request an extension of his/her/their existing appointment on the basis of compelling personal reasons (for example, the care of a seriously ill spouse, partner, parent, or child). The written request is sent to the associate dean for the appropriate division/SEAS, with a copy to the department chair. Such requests are subject, as appropriate, to the approval of the FAS Dean or the Dean's designee.

If the requested extension is approved, the new dates of appointment are confirmed in writing to the faculty member, with a copy to the department chair(s).

Ordinarily, if an appointment is extended by a year for personal reasons, any promotion review (whether from assistant to associate professor or from associate to tenured professor) is postponed by a year as well. If an appointment is extended for personal reasons for a period less than a year, any promotion review will be postponed by an equivalent period of time. However, if the extension of the appointment for personal reasons takes place after a review is already underway, the review is not ordinarily postponed, and the extension is added to the term of reappointment or promotion.

*The MAPFML Law provides that the weekly wage replacement benefit shall be calculated as follows: (a) that portion of the employee’s average weekly wage at Harvard that is equal to or less than 50% of the state average weekly wage shall be replaced at a rate of 80%; and (b) that portion of the employee’s average weekly wage that is more than 50% of the state average weekly wage shall be replaced at a rate of 50%. The maximum benefit shall be 64% of the state average weekly wage. An estimate of your weekly wage replacement may be found at https://calculator.digital.mass.gov/pfml/yourbenefits/.

More information about the MAPFML wage replacement benefits can be found here: https://www.mass.gov/info-details/how-pfml-weekly-benefit-amounts-are-c….