Paid Family Leave Announcement

An announcement appeared on UCNet last week which yours truly missed. It is unclear how the paid family leave benefit described below will intersect for ladder faculty with current arrangements such as stopping the tenure "clock." It is also odd that this program was not discussed at the prior Regents meeting. There is also no mention in the announcement of negotiations about the benefit with unions for union-represented employees (which is a legal requirement under state law) prior to this announcement, although it is mentioned as something that will occur. Apparently, there hasn't been pre-announcement consultation with the Academic Senate. In any event, here is the announcement:

New paid family leave benefit approved for UC faculty and staff

Monday, July 13, 2020

UC's Council of Chancellors has unanimously approved a recommendation for a new paid family leave benefit for UC employees, effective July 1, 2021. This recommendation, supported by President Napolitano and Systemwide Human Resources, provides eight weeks of leave at 70% of wages for UC faculty and staff who need time off to care for a seriously ill family member or bond with a new child.

“The chancellors were in agreement that this is the right thing to do for our employees,” said Interim Vice President of Systemwide Human Resources Cheryl Lloyd. “Offering paid family leave adds the University of California to the list of other top employers that recognize how important it is to have family friendly policies and practices to recruit and retain the best.”

Systemwide groups that include the Systemwide Advisory Council on the Status of Women (SACSW), the Council of University of California Staff Assemblies (CUCSA) and the Staff Advisors to the Regents have been advocating for this important benefit for many years. The recommendation was developed by a cross functional workgroup comprised of members representing Human Resources, Academic Personnel, UC Legal, staff representatives and leadership, and is in alignment with the paid family leave benefit that is offered by the State of California.

Over the next year, Human Resources leadership, Academic Personnel and faculty leaders across the UC system, as well as other key stakeholders, will collaborate on the development of the new paid family leave benefit, finalizing details about how this new benefit will be implemented and how it will be coordinated with existing leave policies as well as paid family leave benefits already in place at some locations. This benefit is subject to collective bargaining for represented employees. We will keep the UC community informed before the July 1, 2021 effective date, as more information becomes available.

Source: https://ucnet.universityofcalifornia.edu/news/2020/07/new-paid-family-leave-benefit-approved-for-uc-faculty-and-staff.html