Managing Military/Exigency Leaves

A Military/Exigency leave is a leave of absence for any qualifying exigency arising when a family member is deployed abroad on active military service. A military/exigency leave may be taken for a set period of time (e.g., six weeks), as a reduced schedule (e.g., only working 28 hours per week) or intermittently (sporadic absences).

There are two primary federal/state leaves for a military exigency. When applicable, all leaves will run concurrently.

Note: For Officers of Instruction/Libraries/Research, please review the Faculty Handbook.

Federal/State Military Exigency Leaves

PFL provides eligible employees with job-protected, partial paid leave up to 10 weeks in 2020 (no change from 2019) to assist when a spouse, child, domestic partner or parent is deployed abroad on active military service.

PFL is available to employees working in New York State who have satisfied the eligibility requirements of either: a) working for at least 26 consecutive weeks if regularly working 20 hours or more per week or b) worked for at least 175 days if working less than 20 hours per week. See the PFL Policy for more information.

For more information on eligibility and benefits, visit:

FMLA provides eligible employees to take a total of up to twelve weeks of unpaid, job-protected leave during any twelve-month rolling period for a qualifying exigency arising out of the foreign deployment of the employee’s spouse, son, daughter or parent. 

FMLA is available to employees who have been employed by the University for at least 12 months, and have worked at least 1,250 hours during the 12-month period immediately preceding the commencement of the leave.  See the FMLA policy for more information.

Reminder

Reminder

If the leave of absence is unpaid (i.e. FMLA) or partially paid (i.e. PFL), substitution of paid time off is permitted by using vacation time, personal time and NYC Earned Safe and Sick Time*, if applicable.

Please note NYC Earned Safe and Sick Time provides eligible employees up to a maximum of 40 hours per fiscal year in paid sick time which can be used for illness or preventive care of one’s family member. For more information, see the NYC Earned Safe and Sick Time Act Policy.

If the employee is covered under a Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA), the CBA should be consulted for more information.

Once the Departmental HR contact is notified of the employee's need for a leave of absence, the Departmental HR contact should consider all applicable leave types the employee is eligible for and follow all steps below.

Requesting a Leave of Absence

Notification to one’s supervisor is required to request time off for a military/exigency leave. When the leave is foreseeable, at least 30 days advance notice must be given. If the leave is not foreseeable, notice should be given as soon as possible. In addition, documentation and/or a written request may be required depending on the type of leave, the length of the leave and applicable University policies and federal/state/local laws.

Steps to request Paid Family Leave (if eligible):

  1. The Departmental HR contact should review the PFL Process Steps document for the steps to request PFL.
     
  2. The Departmental HR contact should complete the PFL Information Form with the employee and submit it to CUHR Leave Management.

Note: 1199 Clerical and Cafeteria employees should contact the Benefit Fund’s Member Services to file a PFL claim. By Phone: 646-473-9200, 8 a.m. – 6 p.m. EST, Mon to Fri; or Online: www.1199SEIUBenefits.org

For more information on eligibility and benefits, visit:

Steps to request Family and Medical Leave Act (if eligible):

  1. The Departmental HR contact should complete the FMLA WH-381 Notice of Eligibility and Rights & Responsibilities and provide it to the employee.
     
  2. The employee should complete the FMLA WH-384 Certification of Qualifying Exigency For Military Family Leave form. The form should be submitted to the CUHR Leave Management Office.
     
  3. Once the employee has submitted the FMLA form, the Departmental HR contact should complete the FMLA WH-382 Designation Notice and provide it to the employee.

An employee is expected to return to work on the date agreed upon at the onset of the request for a military/exigency leave. Any request for extension must be submitted to the Departmental HR contact prior to the expected return to work date and will be granted in accordance with applicable University policies and/or applicable federal/state/local laws.

Vacation Accrual

There is no accrual of vacation, personal or holiday time during an extended leave of absence (30 calendar days or longer). For additional information regarding accrual for overlapping months, see the Officers Form Process for Managers page in the Time and Attendance section of the toolkit.

There is no accrual of vacation, personal or holiday time.

Vacation does not accrue during a leave of absence.

Vacation shall not accrue during an absence that exceeds two (2) months.

Vacation does not accrue during a leave of absence.

Useful Tools & Information

Employees may continue their benefits if on an approved leave of absence. 

Learn more

Any questions regarding procedures, PFL, FMLA or benefits eligibility should be addressed to CUHR Leave Management.

PAF Codes for Processing Leave Transactions

Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA)

In addition to FMLA, other University policies and laws, if eligible, will run concurrently, including NYC Earned Safe and Sick Time Act and Paid Family Leave.

FMLA does not supersede any University policy or collective bargaining agreement that provides greater family or medical leave rights than the rights established under FMLA. Conversely, FMLA provides that the rights established for employees under FMLA cannot be diminished by any policy or agreement.

The leave granted under FMLA generally is a lesser benefit than that available under various University policies and collective bargaining agreements. Because the University meets or exceeds FMLA requirements in many respects, this policy designates many existing types of leave as FMLA leave, so that the University leaves and the FMLA leave run concurrently.