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Leave Provisions

Parental Leave shall be used for the following reasons:

To care for or bond with a newborn child of an eligible employee;

To care for or bond with a child who is six (6) years of age or younger legally adopted by an eligible employee;

To cover the elimination period in the State's STD program, upon the birth of a child(ren).

To supplement the State's STD benefit not to exceed 100% of employees' creditable compensation following the birth of a child.

Parental Leave may be used in one continuous period of 12 weeks or an employee may request Parental Leave in two-week consecutive time periods at a time. One or more two-week time periods may be requested and approved (e.g. four weeks, six weeks, eight weeks, etc. of parental leave). Parental Leave shall be charged as a full day regardless of the daily number of hours used, worked or necessary to supplement STD benefits. Parental Leave expires 12 months from the date of the birth or adoption.

Parental Leave runs concurrently with FMLA and STD, as applicable. An employee may be eligible for Parental Leave even if they have exhausted their FMLA time consistent with the law covering FMLA. If an employee becomes eligible for FMLA while on Parental Leave, the employee must apply and use FMLA.

In the event that two employees of the State of Delaware are eligible for Parental Leave for the same birth or adoption, each eligible employee is entitled to 12 calendar weeks of Parental Leave.

Multiple births or adoptions do not increase the length of Parental Leave.

An employee may not use accrued sick leave, annual leave or other leave in lieu of Parental Leave for the birth or adoption of a child. If the employee requires leave before the actual birth or adoption due to medical reasons or to fulfill legal adoption obligations, other available leaves may be utilized in accordance with Merit Rules.

Parental Leave cannot accrue or be donated to the Donated Leave bank or to another state employee.

At the conclusion of the leave, the State shall restore the eligible employee to the same or equivalent position, barring any unforeseen circumstances unrelated to the employee's taking leave (i.e., workforce reduction).

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Leave Provisions

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