Death in the Immediate Family:  See the University's policy at
www.umdnj.edu/hrweb/policies/pl402000.

Full-time, full-title faculty who have completed at least six consecutive years of service at UMDNJ are eligible. Faculty granted a renewal leave are ineligible for a subsequent leave for another six consecutive years of service.

The application for a renewal leave with detailed description of the planned activities and purpose must be approved by the chair, a standing committee of the faculty of the School, the dean, and the Executive Vice President for Academic and Clinical Affairs. The application process must be initiated at the School with sufficient time prior to the date the leave is to begin to allow for the application to be received by the Executive Vice President at least three months prior to the leave date. Upon return from the leave, a brief report on activities and accomplishments must be submitted to the dean and the Vice President for Academic Affairs for an annual report to the Board of Trustees.

Full academic base salary will be paid for a faculty renewal leave of six months and one-half academic base salary will be paid for a one-year leave. Faculty practice and patient services salary components are not guaranteed during the leave but may be authorized in whole or in part by the chair if funds are available. Faculty are strongly urged to seek extramural support for salary, travel, per diem support, equipment and other expenses during their renewal leave. Salary support from external sources will reduce the salary from the University during a six-month leave but may be used to supplement the half-salary during a year’s leave.

Details of procedure can be found in each dean’s office.


Family Leave: The New Jersey Family Leave Act ("NJFL") and the  federal Family & Medical Leave Act ("FMLA"):

Please refer to the following document for notice of rights and responsibilities under federal Family & Medical Leave Act ("FMLA"): Notice to Employees of Rights Under FMLA.

The NJFL provides for family leaves of up to 12 weeks in any 24-month period. The FMLA provides for leaves of up to 12 weeks in any 12-month period. Leaves granted under one act are counted toward the other act, except for leave for personal illness which is granted under the FMLA only.

Faculty are eligible for family leave when they have been employed for at least 12 months and have worked at least 1000 hours in the 12 months immediately prior to the date when the leave will begin. Spouses who are both employed by the same employer are jointly entitled only to a combined total of 12 work-weeks of family leave for the same reason.
Family leave can be taken under the following circumstances:

Leave for birth and care of a child or placement of a child for adoption or foster care shall expire at the end of the 12-month period following the birth or placement. If an employee's pregnancy results in a medical inability to work, family leave can cover this period as well as the birth of the child and any subsequent period of medical disability. Medical leave, whether paid or unpaid, covers the entire period of medical disability as well. (See section on Medical Leave.) Once the employee is medically able to return to work following childbirth, but wishes to remain at home to care for the newborn, family leave can be used for this additional period of time up to the maximum of 12 weeks in any 12-month period.

A faculty member on  medical or family leave may not work at another job.

In order to request/approve a family leave, the following documents must be provided:
Notice and Certification: Employees seeking to use family leave are required to provide 30-day advance notice of the need to take family leave when the need is foreseeable and such notice is practicable. When need for leave is not foreseeable, the employee is required to provide notice as soon as practicable in light of the circumstances (either the same day or the next business day).
	Faculty wishing to take family leave must request the leave in a written communication to their Chair or other supervisor.
	Department sends to faculty member a completed notice of eligibility under federal FMLA, Notice of Eligibility and Rights & Responsibilities, within 5 business days of notice of intent to take a FMLA leave.
	Faculty member submits to department, ordinarily within 15 calendar days, either a completed Certification of Health Care Provider for Employee’s Serious Health Condition form for medical certification for FMLA leave or a completed Certification of Health Care Provider for Family Member’s Serious Health Condition form.  If information on the certification form is incomplete, the faculty member has 7 calendar days to correct a deficient certification.
	Employees seeking family leave for medical reasons are required to provide medical certification supporting the need for leave due to a serious health condition affecting the employee or an immediate family member; second or third medical opinions (at UMDNJ expense) and periodic recertification; and periodic reports during the leave regarding the employee's status and intent to return to work. Upon returning from a family medical leave, the employee must present a medical statement from his/her health care provider to his/her supervisor that states the employee is able to return to work without limitations. The medical certification must be provided by the employee on U.S. Department of Labor Form, Certification of Health Care Provider for Employee’s Serious Health Condition, or U.S. Department of Labor Form, Certification of Health Care Provider for Family Member’s Serious Health Condition. The employee may be required to provide recertification for medical need for the employee’s absence no more often than every 30 days, unless the minimum duration of the condition is more than 30 days. In all cases, a recertification may be required every six months and for any requests for extension of leave or significant change in the circumstances described by the previous certification.
	Department sends to faculty member designation by UMDNJ of leave as a FMLA leave, Designation Notice, within 5 business days after Certification is complete.
	Faculty member sends to department a completed Certification of Qualifying Exigency for Military Family Leave form when requesting qualifying exigency for military family leave.
	Faculty member sends to department a completed Certification for Serious Injury or Illness of Covered Servicemember for MilitaryFamily Leave form when requesting leave for serious injury or illness of covered servicemember for military family leave.

Paid/Unpaid Leave: Family leave provides for a total of 12 weeks of paid or unpaid leave in a 12-month period. The employee or the supervisor may decide that accrued paid leave (such as sick leave, vacation time or float holidays) be used to cover some or all of the family leave. The supervisor is responsible for designating if an employee's use of paid leave counts as family leave based on information from the employee. (See Medical Leave section regarding maximum amount of paid and unpaid medical leave for faculty.) All time, whether paid or unpaid, taken for any circumstance covered under family leave counts towards the 12 weeks of family leave.

Benefits During FMLA Leave of Absence:  The first twelve (12) weeks of a medical/FMLA (paid and unpaid)  leave of absence (including birth or adoption) granted to an employee will be considered leave pursuant to the Federal Family and Medical Leave Act.

Employees on paid leave for self, family member or birth or adoption will continue to enjoy full benefits.

During the first twelve (12) weeks of unpaid status, the employee will be required to pre-pay the employee portion of any applicable health plan premium cost during the leave. Once the twelve (12) week unpaid period is exhausted, the employee will be required to pre-pay the applicable employee and employer premium costs for the remainder of the leave.

If the required pre-payments are not made, the employee’s benefit coverage will be terminated under the provisions of the State Health Benefits Program (SHBP). Affected employees will be offered COBRA up to eighteen (18) months. The employee may elect to continue any or all of the coverage (medical, prescription drug or dental) they had while in active status. They may not increase the level of coverage, but may switch plans upon enrollment in COBRA. The time employees spend on leave will not count as part of the COBRA eligibility period.

Employees will not accrue pension credit while on unpaid leave of absence status. However, upon return to work, employees may be allowed to purchase pension credit up to a designated maximum, with the exception of employees who are members of the Alternate Benefit Plan (ABP). Contact your Campus Human Resources Benefits Office for information.

Sick and vacation time accruals will continue for the remainder of the month in which the unpaid medical leave commences, providing the employee is still in active pay status as of the first pay cycle of the month.

When an employee returns from leave, sick and vacation time will begin to accrue the first pay cycle of the month after the employee returns to work.

Employees who are on an unpaid medical leave of absence on January 1, are not credited with float holidays at that time. Employees returning from unpaid leave between January 2 and July 1, will be credited with three (3) float holidays within one full pay cycle after July 1. No float holidays will be credited for employees returning from leave of absence from July 2 - December 31.

Seniority held prior to the commencement of the leave of absence will be retained.

Holidays which fall during an unpaid medical leave of absence will not be granted pursuant to the Holiday Policy 30-01-40-10:00.

Job Restoration: Upon return from family leave, an employee must be restored to the employee's original job, or to an equivalent job with equivalent pay, benefits, and other terms and conditions of employment. In addition, an employee's use of family leave cannot result in the loss of any employment benefit that the employee earned or was entitled to before using family leave, nor be counted against the employee under a “no fault” attendance policy.

Holidays: The University's official holidays are New Year's Day, Martin Luther King, Jr. Birthday, Good Friday, Memorial Day, Fourth of July, Labor Day, Thanksgiving Day, day after Thanksgiving, and Christmas Day. In addition to these regular holidays, AAUP members receive three (3) float holidays per calendar year, NJEA members receive three (3) float holidays per calendar year, and less than half-time and other non-union faculty and Faculty Administrators receive no float holidays. 

Medical Leave: Except for School of Health Related Professions faculty, who should request paid medical leaves directly from their Dean with appropriate medical documentation, faculty who are at least 0.5 FTE accrue one month (22 working days) of paid medical leave per year of service minus prior use of medical leave time. A maximum of 6 months (26 weeks or 132 working days) paid medical leave may be used during any 12-month period, 12 weeks of which may be designated by the faculty member or supervisor as Family Leave (see below). Following 6 months or the exhausting of previously accrued paid medical leave, the faculty member can request an unpaid medical leave of absence for an additional 26 weeks, the first 12 weeks of which shall be on Family Leave (if eligibility requirements are met) unless the paid part of the medical leave was already taken as Family Leave.

Medical leave during pregnancy and following the birth may only be taken if there is a medical inability to work. After a birth, if the faculty member is medically able to work but wishes to take a leave from work to care for the child, a family leave can be requested under the Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA) (see below).

A faculty member on medical leave may not work at another job.

If a faculty member is granted an unpaid medical leave, she/he may apply for New Jersey State Temporary Disability Insurance which provides benefits for up to 26 weeks. The weekly benefit amount is calculated on the basis of the individual's average weekly wage; payment is two-thirds of the average weekly wage up to the prevailing maximum weekly amount. The maximum amount of benefits which may be paid for each period of disability is one-third of the total wages paid to the member during the base year, or 26 times the weekly benefit amount, whichever is LESS. The base year is the 52 weeks immediately before the week in which the disability began.

Faculty members who are enrolled in the Alternate Benefit Program (ABP) are also eligible for employer-paid Long Term Disability (LTD) insurance coverage. Eligibility is based on completing one year of participation in ABP and having six consecutive months of total disability. This disability waiting period can be satisfied by the allowed six months of paid medical leave and/or by unpaid medical leave. LTD pays up to 60% of the base monthly salary earned during the 12 months preceding the onset of the disability. The monthly benefit is offset by any periodic benefit the member may be receiving, such as Social Security Disability.

The notice requirements for non-reappointment of non-tenured faculty, as set forth in the University Bylaws, remain unchanged for faculty on medical leave.

Paid and unpaid medical leave for less than half-time faculty is at the discretion of the Chair or division/program Director and/or the Dean if the needs of the department/division/program and the School permit.

Faculty on medical leave must supply appropriate medical documentation from a licensed health care provider stating the medical reason for the leave, the date on which the condition commenced, and the estimated date of return from the medical leave. The University reserves the right to require additional documentation from an appropriate health care provider of the University's choosing.

Faculty are not eligible for lump-sum payment at retirement of any part of the value of accrued but unused paid medical leave.

For details about employee benefits during medical leave, please refer to the University policy on Medical/FMLA Leave of Absence.

Military Leave:  Faculty are eligible for paid leave for military training whenever they are required to perform active duty "field training.” Normally, military leave is for a two-week period, however in some cases, longer or multiple leaves do occur.

Military Leave Pay Provisions:

Revised 1/5/11