Systemwide Review of Proposed Presidential Revisions to the Leave-Related Policies of the 700 Series of the APM

Dear Colleagues,

The University invites comments on proposed revisions to followin leave-related policies of the 700 series of the Academic Personnel Manual:

• APM - 700, Leaves of Absence/General;
• APM - 710, Leaves of Absence/Sick Leave/Medical Leave;
• APM - 715, Leaves of Absence/Family and Medical Leave;
• APM - 720, Leaves of Absence/Holidays;
• APM - 730, Leaves of Absence/Vacation;
• APM - 740, Leaves of Absence/Sabbatical Leaves;
• APM - 750, Leaves of Absence/Leave for Service to Governmental Agencies;
• APM - 751, Leaves of Absence/Military Leave;
• APM - 752, Leaves of Absence/Leave to Attend Professional Meeting;
• APM - 758, Leaves of Absence/Other Leaves with Pay;
• APM - 759, Leaves of Absence/Other Leaves without Pay; and
• APM - 760, Family Accommodations for Childbearing and Childrearing.

Summarized below are the proposed key policy revisions that are being distributed for systemwide review.

• Increase in paid childbearing leave. Proposed language in APM - 760, Family Accommodations for Childbearing and Childrearing, increases the existing paid childbearing leave from six weeks to eight weeks for academic appointees who do not accrue sick leave.

• New Pay for Family Care and Bonding benefit. To incorporate the paid family leave benefit as described above, a new section on Pay for Family Care and Bonding has been added to APM - 715, Leaves of Absence/Family and Medical Leave, and APM - 760, Family Accommodations for Childbearing and Childrearing. The benefit approved by the chancellors does not go into effect until July 1, 2021 and many of the details surrounding the new benefit are still pending. Over the next several months, a UCOP cross-functional work group has been tasked with developing and finalizing the details of how the new Pay for Family Care and Bonding benefit will be implemented and coordinated with existing leave policies, including those policies in the APM. It is important to note that the new Pay for Family Care and Bonding benefit is not intended to take away any existing paid leave benefits under APM policy or local Health Sciences Compensation Plan implementing procedures for those academic appointees who are already eligible to receive such benefits. Although many details of the new Pay for Family Care and Bonding benefit are still pending, we have added preliminary draft language to APM - 715, Leaves of Absence/Family and Medical Leave, and APM - 760, Family Accommodations for Childbearing and Childrearing, to generally address the new benefit in order to solicit feedback during systemwide review. We have included footnotes in these policies to identify the areas still under development.

• Changes to comply with SB 1383. The Governor recently signed SB 1383 expanding the California Family Rights Act (CFRA), effective January 1, 2021. One notable change of the new legislation is that it expands the definition of family members for whom an appointee may take a family and medical leave under CFRA to include grandparents, grandchildren, and siblings. Language has been added to APM - 715, Leaves of Absence/Family and Medical Leave, address the new SB 1383 requirements.

• New sections on bereavement leave and jury duty leave. Language has been added to APM - 758, Leaves of Absence/Other Leaves with Pay, to specifically address bereavement and jury duty leaves. While these types of leaves are well-defined in staff PPSM policies, they were previously not specifically defined in APM policy. The proposed changes mirror existing language in staff PPSM policies.

• Removal of age requirement of child for Active Service-Modified Duties eligibility. In APM - 760, Family Accommodations for Childbearing and Childrearing, the previous eligibility criteria that a newly placed child must be “under age five” has been removed. This change will allow for a child of any age newly placed for adoption or foster care to be covered under APM - 760 for Active Service-Modified Duties.

This policy applies to all persons at all UC San Diego locations.

Under the Regents’ Policy, campuses were directed to issue implementing rules for certain policy requirements. This proposed policy constitutes the implementing rules for the San Diego campus and is available for viewing here.

This is a formal review of the proposed Implementing Rules. If you have comments for submission in response to the policy review, please provide your written comments to Heather Zion in Academic Personnel Services at hzion@ucsd.edu no later than January 8, 2021.

Pradeep K. Khosla
Chancellor