At its monthly meeting Wednesday, Boulder Campus Staff Council renewed its call for a paid parental leave policy that would provide at least six weeks of paid leave for CU Boulder employees upon the birth of a child. At its March meeting, Staff Council endorsed the Paid Parental Leave White Paper submitted by the system-wide University of Colorado Staff Council (UCSC).
Current CU policy aligns with the Family Medical Leave Act, a federal law that guarantees parents up to 12 weeks of unpaid job-protected leave. CU classified and university staff employees may use accrued vacation and sick leave or leave without pay. Staff Council’s proposal would provide the first six weeks of leave as paid without the use of sick or vacation time.
Kelly Fox, senior vice chancellor and chief financial officer, discussed the topic with Staff Council members at Wednesday’s meeting. Fox said the campus administration appreciates Staff Council’s work on this important issue.
“We share Staff Council’s goal in offering paid parental leave for new parents and plan to have a program in place by July 1,” Fox said. “There are obviously many issues we must consider on this topic, and we are still determining how much paid leave we can offer. We will review Staff Council’s analysis and factor that into our work on this proposal. We will have an update soon.”
John Kelly and Mirinda Scott, Boulder Campus Staff Council co-chairs, urged the Board of Regents to consider the proposal system-wide in a letter last month.
“The advantages of spending uninterrupted and stress-free time away from work with a newborn or newly adopted/fostered child are well-documented,” they wrote, “and include benefits that range from increased maternal health and reduced pregnancy complications, to increased involvement from fathers and improved child development and health.”
