622. Pregnancy Disability
Statement
Employees who are disabled due to pregnancy-related conditions are entitled to a leave of absence under the California Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA).
Procedure
Employee Eligibility
All regular, fixed-term and on-call employees are eligible to receive a pregnancy disability leave due to their pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions.
Leave Availability
An employee disabled due to pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical condition may take up to a maximum of four months leave. As an alternative, the University may transfer the employee to a less strenuous or hazardous position if the employee so requests with the advice of her physician, if a workplace needs assessment allows such a transfer. Fixed-term employees' leave will not extend beyond the end of their assignment.
Leave taken under the pregnancy disability policy would run concurrently with any time allowed under the Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA) for those employees eilgible for FMLA and would be in addition to any time allowed under the California Family Rights Act (CFRA) for those employees eligible for CFRA.
Compensation During Leave
Upon the start of an approved pregnancy disability leave, any accrued sick and vacation balances can be used, at the employees choice, to supplement any short term disability payments. At no time shall an employee receive a greater total payment than the employee's regular net pay. If an employee elects to use their accrued sick and vacation time, sick time will be utilized first and then any available vacation time will be used to supplement any short-term disability payments and keep the employee receiving an amount equivalent to their normal paycheck for as long as possible. Once authorized accruals have been exhausted, the paid leave will end.
Notification and Certification Requirements
Employees requesting to take a pregnancy disability leave must submit a Request for Leave of Absence to the Department of Human Resources and the University’s leave administrator, Matrix, at least 30 days prior to the start of the disability or at the earliest reasonable time. Matrix can be contacted via their website, matrixabsence.com, by phone (877) 202-0055 or via the Matrix eServices Mobile App.
In addition, employees must provide an initial physician's certification of disability indicating the expected duration of the disability. The certification must be updated to reflect changes in the employee's condition.
Responsibility
It is the employee's responsibility to coordinate all leave time with the supervisor. It is the responsibility of the supervisor to administer the leave provisions detailed in this policy.
Resources
Refer to Family and Medical (614), Personal (617), and Industrial Disability (615) leave policies for procedures related to specific leave applications. Contact Human Resources for questions or more information about this policy.
Policy Approved: October 23, 1998
Last Updated: November 5, 2018
Last Reviewed: June 30 2022
Maintainer: Human Resources