Family Care & Parental Bonding Leave

Guidelines, Policies & Forms

If you need to take time off to care for a loved one or bond with a new child, you may be eligible for job-protected leave under the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) and California Family Rights Act (CFRA). At Stanford, some or all of your job-protected leave may be paid.

Criteria for Family Care

You are caring for an immediate family member suffering from a serious health condition
You are bonding with your newborn, foster child or adopted child

Overview

Federal law (FMLA) and California law (CFRA) allow you to take up to 12 weeks of job-protected leave during a rolling 12-month period for all eligible leaves of absence combined
FMLA and CFRA are not paid; however, paid family leave (PFL) benefits may provide you with full or partial income replacement while on an eligible leave for up to eight weeks in a rolling 12-month period. Your balance of job-protected leave, up to an additional four weeks, can be taken using a combination of vacation and paid time off accruals as income replacement
PFL may be taken intermittently, and is most often taken in increments of at least two weeks each when used for baby bonding time
The San Francisco Paid Parental Leave Ordinance provides supplemental compensation in addition to PFL to employees working in San Francisco.

Paid Family Leave - How It Works

Benefit	FAMILY CARE OR BABY BONDING LEAVE (UP TO 8 WEEKS)	ADDITIONAL LEAVE TIME (BALANCE OF CFRA - UP TO 4 WEEKS)
Income protection	Paid Family Leave - Bonding	None
Length of time allowed	May be up to 8 weeks May be taken intermittently, in increments of at least two weeks each May use within 12 months of the child’s birth or adoption/ foster care placement	May be up to 4 weeks after FTD Leave
Documentation	Bonding certificate	N/A
Salary continuation or supplement	Benefits-eligible employees on leave for bonding receive 100% of base pay without using accruals for the first 6 weeks and may use accrued PTO, floating holiday and vacation hours during weeks 7-8 to augment insurance benefit. Non-benefits-eligible employees may use accrued PTO, floating holiday and vacation hours to augment insurance benefit.	May use only accrued PTO, floating holiday and vacation hours as salary continuation. No disability benefit or salary supplement during this period
Job protection	Protected under CFRA (the California version of FMLA) and/or FMLA. If eligible, provides 12 weeks in a rolling 12-month calendar year, beginning on the first day of leave.

Review Your Options

Visit the pages below to learn more about your job-protection and insurance options while on a Family Leave.