Paid leave for new parents arrives July 1

For the first time, university employees who welcome children to their family, through birth or adoption, will receive paid time off for these life events. Gov. Kim Reynolds signed paid parental leave for state employees into law on May 27.

The law, which takes effect July 1, provides:

• Four weeks (up to 160 hours) for a parent who gives birth. This may be used following the use of accrued sick time prescribed by their doctor for their medical recovery.
• One week (up to 40 hours) for a non-birthing parent.
• Four weeks (up to 160 hours) for a parent who adopts a child.

In addition to Reynolds' endorsement, the law received broad support from Iowa legislators. In an 87-2 vote, the Iowa House passed House File 889 in March. The Senate approved it in May with a 44-1 vote.

Eligibility for paid parental leave mirrors that for leave under the federal Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA):

• Employee has worked at Iowa State for at least 12 months
• Employee has worked at least 1,250 hours (average of 25 hours/week) in the 12 months prior to the leave

Part-time employees eligible for FMLA also are eligible for paid parental leave, pro-rated for their appointment.

When expectant parents submit their FMLA leave request in Workday prior to a birth or adoption and have been approved for FMLA, a new bank of leave, paid parental leave, will be added to their leave balance in Workday. Employees must use paid parental leave within 12 months of the birth or arrival date of their child, concurrent with their FMLA leave.

FMLA simply protects an employee's job during their leave. In the past, new parent employees have used some combination of accrued paid leave (when they have it) and unpaid leave at the arrival of their child.

UHR associate director for employee and labor relations Andrea Little said paid parental leave has been a frequent inquiry from prospective and current employees and representative employee groups for many years.

"We think this is a great benefit for parents to allow them additional time off that is paid, specifically for the care and bonding with their child," she said. "UHR will work closely with employees and their supervisors to help them manage this new leave."

'Look back' provision includes FY25 new parents

While implementation officially begins July 1, parents of children born or adopted in the last year also are eligible for paid parental leave under the state's guidelines. Little said FMLA-eligible employees who added a child to their family during the July 1, 2024, to June 30, 2025, window have 12 months from the date of the child's arrival to use their leave. UHR is contacting those employees and their supervisors directly with specific guidance.

"We recognize this provision gives managers and eligible employees a little less time to plan, and we will work with them so those employees are able to utilize the eligible leave," she said.

Questions about paid parental leave may be directed to a unit's HR service team or to fmla@iastate.edu.

Shorter time to optional conversion of sick leave

Another section of the same bill, HF 889, lets employees begin earning vacation credit earlier. This provision also takes effect on July 1. The change allows employees in their first four years of employment who accumulate 10 days of sick leave and don't use sick leave during a month to convert that month's sick leave to a half day of vacation (for full-time employees). The monthly conversion is pro-rated for part-time employees. It's added to the employee's vacation credit bank, which is a separate bank from vacation time off. Full-time employees may accrue up to 96 hours of vacation credit in addition to 384 hours of vacation.

Currently, employees can't opt for this conversion until they have been on the job for five years and accrued 30 days of sick leave.

Faculty members on nine-month appointments and public safety officers covered by the state's contract with the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees are not eligible for sick-leave-to-vacation-credit conversion.