Who is Eligible, Page 4

Adoption Leave

How Prevalent Is It?

An informal poll of companies shows that many provide adoption leave on an individual basis, at the supervisor's discretion. Often, adopting employees can use personal leave time when the child joins the family or they may use vacation time even though no formal adoption leave exists.

Organized labor has a great interest in parental leave because of thelarge number of women in the work force. Unions frequently bargain strenuously for leave benefits and are now negotiating for contracts that provide both birth and adoption language.

Public sector union contracts are more likely to include longer leave provisions. Based on a review of 85 of 4,000 American Federation ofState, County, and Municipal Employees' contracts, 88 percent of union employees may take more than 18 weeks of unpaid parental leave. Eighty-four percent of these employees are given leave for up to or more than 6 months.

Other unions have been less successful. The International Ladies Garment Workers has fewer than 50 contracts with a parental leave policy that includes adoption. Carriers in the airline industry, for the most part, do not specify adoption benefits plans in their contracts.

With the passage of the Family and Medical Leave Act in 1992, employers with 50 or more employees, including the Federal Government and the Congress, must offer both male and female employees up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave upon the birth or adoption of a child. The employee is guaranteed his present job or one considered equivalent and the employer is required to continue health benefits during the leave period.

Policies on maternity leave vary from State to State. Minnesota was the first State to require employers to offer parental leave to both the mother and father of a newborn or adopted child. In Minnesota, all companies with 21 employees or more must offer up to 6 weeks of unpaid leave to both mother and father, who can take the leave at the same time and return to their original jobs or ones with comparable duties and salaries.

Other States that require employers to offer parental leave to adoptive parents include: Connecticut, District of Columbia, Maine, Massachusetts (female employees only), New Jersey, Oregon, Rhode Island, Washington, and Wisconsin. In addition to these States, Colorado and New York, while not mandating employers to provide parental leave, do require them to offer leave to adoptive parents if they offer it to biological parents. Kentucky parental leave law specifically applies only to adoptive parents.

Types of Adoption Leave

Most companies will allow an employee to take unpaid leave. While companies may offer their employees either paid and/or unpaid leave, the leave may be listed under a heading other than adoption. Paid leave may be defined as: authorized time off, discretionary time, annual or paid personal leave, annual or all-purpose time. The length of paid leave usually depends on the amount of leave time the employee has accrued. In some cases, a maximum duration of paid leave is set by the company.

Unpaid adoption leave may be considered personal leave, child care leave, personal hardship leave, or medical leave. Most companies offer limits ranging from 2 weeks to 1 year, with the median at 6 months. Some companies, however, set no time limits, but prefer to be open or negotiable, depending on individual circumstances.

Credits: Child Welfare Information Gateway (http://www.childwelfare.gov)