Parental Care Checklist
The Ohio State University is committed to providing a work environment that is healthy, supportive, and considerate
of employees' work and personal obligations. The university's work/life effort includes providing programs, policies,
and services to help faculty and staff better integrate their professional and personal lives and feel more productive,
engaged and satisfied.
Part of this commitment to work-life balance is a recognition that new parents will need assistance navigating their
time off, leave of absence, available support, and benefits as they welcome their new child into the world. Some of
the time off, leave and benefit options are outlined below for your convenience. In addition, we have included a
checklist to help you stay organized before and after your leave and remind you of some important items related to
your birth or adoption event.
Leave and Time Off:
Eligible new birth mothers may receive up to 12 weeks of leave under the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA).
Family and Medical Leave (FML) protects your job and is unpaid. To receive pay during a leave of absence, you
must use parental time off (up to six weeks), sick time, vacation time and/or short-term disability (if eligible). If you
do not have sufficient time off balances to cover your entire leave, you can choose to take the unpaid time off after
your paid time off is exhausted. Please note, unpaid time off may impact your benefits.
New parents who are not the birth mother, who are eligible (i.e., father, domestic partner, adoptive parent) may also
receive up to 12 weeks of leave under FMLA. To receive pay during this time, you must use your parental time off
(up to six weeks), then vacation time once your parental time off is exhausted.
This checklist is intended as a quick resource. More detailed information can be found in the Parental Leave
Guidebook or at hr.osu.edu.
Prior to Event (birth or adoption)
1. Check your eligibility for Paid Parental Time Off:
• Faculty and staff who hold at least a 75% appointment and are in a regular, term, seasonal or
associated faculty position are eligible.
2. Check your Family Medical Leave (FML) eligibility and balance:
• Employees who have been employed by Ohio State for at least one year, have worked 1,250
hours in the past year and have not already exhausted their FML balance may be eligible.
• You can confirm your FML balance in Workday either on your absence calendar (suitcase icon
on the home page) or by accessing your profile and viewing your “additional balances” under
“Time Off and Leave.”
3. Notify your manager of your upcoming leave needs.
4. Submit your Family and Medical Leave of Absence request in Workday:
• See detailed instructions for Requesting a Leave of Absence. You should submit your request
for leave atleast 30 days prior to delivery, OR as soon as your medical provider can fill out the
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FML Certification of Health Care Provider for Family Member’s Serious Health Condition (other
parent), OR the FML Certification of Health Care Provider for Employee’s Own Serious Health
Condition (birth mother) If you are ineligible for FML, and are the birth mother, you may still be
eligible for an unpaid Leave ofAbsence while you recover from the birth event. Please submit
your FML request to start the processand your leave administrator will provide you with
documentation to complete.
5. Return the completed FML Certification to your Leave Administrator by the assigned date.
6. Submit your Time Off request(s) in Workday (Campus) or Kronos (Health System).
• See detailed instructions for submitting Time Off in Workday.
7. If you are enrolled in Short Term Disability and would like to use this benefit during your leave, contact
Unum at1-866-245-3013 to initiate a claim.
8. You or your physician should contact the OSU Health Plan, Inc. to obtain pre-certification prior to delivery.
9. Review your Medical Plans – Specific Plan Details to familiarize yourself with your benefits, including
pre-natalcare.
10. Review the Benefits During Leave section of the Leaves of Absence page to view details on how your
benefitsmay be impacted during a leave of absence.
11. Consider enrolling in the Buckeye Babies program.
After the Event (birth, adoption, or placement of foster child):
1. Update your FML leave administrator with the date of delivery within five days of delivery. Your
administratorwill update your Leave of Absence approval dates.
2. Correct your Time Off request(s) (Campus) OR Time Off and Leave Processes (Health System) if
needed (i.e., if your delivery date changes). You do NOT need to correct your leave of absence dates.
3. Add your child to your medical, dental, vision and life insurance plans. It is your responsibility to enroll
yourchild via Workday. You must enroll within 30 of the event (inclusive of the event date).
4. Once you know your return to work date, notify your supervisor AND request your return from
leave in Workday.
5. Review your federal and state tax withholdings and make any necessary adjustments. To make
changes toyour current tax withholdings, visit Workday.
6. Review your Flexible Spending Account(s) and Dependent Care FSA. Please see page 9 of the
Summary Plan Detail for information on enrollment deadlines
Important Reminders:
• A leave request refers to the job protected time away from work. To receive pay, you must also submit
time off requests in Workday (Campus) or Kronos (Health System) and initiate a short-term disability claim
(if desired).
• Enter all time off requests as soon as possible to avoid impacting your pay. If time off is not
requested and approved prior to payroll processing, your paycheck will be delayed.
• You must add your new child to your insurance plans (if desired) within 30 days of the date of birth. Late
submissions are not permitted. Following enrollment, a dependent eligibility verification packet will be
mailed to your home and must be completed.
• You are required to request your return from leave in Workday when you return to work. Delayed return
requestswill result in pay and access issues.
Resources
• Human Resources Birth and Adoption of a Child
• Administrative Resource Center (Workday Job Aids)
• Integrated Absence Management (IAMVS)
• OSU Health Plan
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