BRIEF

Policy Summary

This policy describes an income replacement option for employees who take a Family and Medical Leave (FML) for family care or parental bonding.

Who Should Read This Policy

This policy applies to eligible non-represented employees. Represented employees should consult their collective bargaining agreement (CBA)

To Read the Full Policy, Go To:

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Contact Information

For more information, employees may contact the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) Integrated Disability and Absence Management (IDAM) team at [email protected].

POLICY

A. Purpose

This policy describes an income replacement option for employees who take a Family and Medical Leave (FML) for family care or parental bonding.

B. Persons Affected

This policy applies to eligible non-represented employees. Represented employees should consult their collective bargaining agreement (CBA).

C. Exceptions

Requests that exceed what is allowed under this policy, or that are not expressly addressed, are considered exceptions to policy. A request for a policy exception requires, at a minimum, the approval of the Chief Human Resources Officer.

D. Policy Statement

1. General
   1. In order to support employees' need to take leave to care for their family members, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) offers eligible employees Pay for Family Care and Bonding (PFCB), which is an income replacement option for up to eight workweeks per calendar year.
   2. To be eligible for PFCB, an employee must be on an approved block Family and Medical Leave (FML) taken for one of the qualifying reasons below, and the employee must be taking that leave in a block of a minimum of one workweek.
   3. Family and Medical Leaves that qualify for the PFCB option are those leaves taken under the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) and/or California Family Rights Act (CFRA) for parental bonding, to care for a family member with a serious health condition, for Military Caregiver Leave, or for Qualifying Exigency Leave. Section D.1.c of the Family and Medical Leave policy outlines the eligibility requirements for FMLs. PFCB is not an option available during any other type of leave, including Supplemental FML.
   4. If an employee elects to use PFCB for a particular qualifying FML block leave rather than using paid leave accruals or taking the leave without pay, the employee must continue to use PFCB until they either exhaust their full eight workweeks of PFCB for the calendar year or that qualifying FML block leave ends. If their leave ends before they have used the full eight workweeks of PFCB for the calendar year, the remainder is available to use during a qualifying FML block leave later in the calendar year.
2. PFCB Calculation. The PFCB option provides pay calculated at 100 percent of an employee's eligible earnings.
   1. Eligible Earnings. Eligible earnings include an employee's base salary payable through Berkeley Lab. Eligible earnings do not include (if applicable) bonuses, perquisites, overtime pay, administrative stipends, shift differentials, uniform allowances, certification pay, specialty pay, emergency response pay, charge differentials, on-call differentials, or any pay that is received in addition to that of the employee's regular appointment, including "by agreement" payments, and any other additional cash compensation received that is more than 100 percent of the base salary of the full-time equivalent of the employee's regular appointment. If an employee is being paid only with "by agreement" payments, and the employee meets all other PFCB eligibility criteria, those earnings are considered eligible earnings.
   2. Appointments Established at a Fixed Percentage. If the employee has an appointment established at a fixed percentage, PFCB is based on the salary rate in effect during the employee's leave.
   3. Appointments Established at a Variable Percentage
      1. If the employee has an appointment established at a variable percentage, eligible earnings are an average of the employee's eligible earnings for the three calendar months (for an employee paid on a monthly basis) or six pay periods (for an employee paid on a biweekly basis) immediately prior to the period in which the leave begins, excluding approved leave without pay. This average is calculated as follows:
         1. For an employee paid on a biweekly basis, the sum of hours paid in the six pay periods immediately prior to the period in which the leave begins is divided by 12 to determine the average hours worked per week. The average hours worked per week is the number of hours per week the employee is to be paid while receiving PFCB.
         2. For an employee paid on a monthly basis, the sum of the time paid in the three calendar months immediately prior to the period in which the leave begins is divided by three to determine the average time worked per month. The average time worked per month is the time per month the employee is to be paid while receiving PFCB.
      2. If the consecutive three months or six biweekly pay periods immediately preceding the beginning of the leave cannot be used due to approved leave without pay, the look-back period may be extended up to, but no longer than, one year prior to the beginning of the leave, using the most recent applicable pay periods.
   4. Pay and Benefit Considerations.
      1. Taxability and Deductions. PFCB is considered taxable wages. An employee's normal deductions are taken from PFCB.
      2. Vacation and Sick Accruals. Per the Vacation Leave policy, an employee accrues vacation leave based on type of appointment, years of qualifying service, and hours on pay status. Per the Sick Leave policy, an employee accrues sick leave based on hours on pay status. A full-time career employee on an approved leave without pay accrues full sick leave credits for the month or quadriweekly cycle if the employee is on pay status at least one-half the working hours of the month or quadriweekly cycle.  An employee’s normal vacation and sick accruals are earned while they are receiving PFCB.
      3. Employment Service Credit. Employment service credit is used to determine years of qualifying service for an employee's vacation accrual rate and for eligibility for service awards. Employees accrue one month of employment service credit for each month in which they are on pay status at least 50 percent time. An employee’s normal employment service credit is earned while they are receiving PFCB.
      4. Retirement Service Credit. Retirement service credit (i.e., service earned as a UCRP member or UC Defined Contribution Savings Choice participant) is earned based upon an employee's covered compensation and their full-time equivalent compensation from a UCRP-eligible appointment. While receiving PFCB, an employee will continue to make required contributions to retirement plans. An employee’s normal retirement service credit is earned while they are receiving PFCB.
      5. Benefits. Health and welfare benefits deductions will be taken from PFCB in accordance with the employee's benefit elections. Receiving PFCB does not, in itself, affect benefits status or eligibility. However, benefits regulations affecting return to pay status after a leave without pay will apply if an employee returns to pay status by receiving PFCB.

E. Roles and Responsibilities

Managers, supervisors, and employees have the responsibility to adhere to the provisions of this policy.

F. Definitions/Acronyms

G. Recordkeeping Requirements

None

H. Implementing Documents

None

I. Contact Information

For more information, employees may contact the Berkeley Lab Integrated Disability and Absence Management (IDAM) team at [email protected].

J. Revision History

DOCUMENT INFORMATION

Source Requirements Documents

University of California Personnel Policies for Staff Members (PPSM) 2.21, Absence from Work

Implementing Documents

None