Alternative Leave Policies

There is only a handful of colleges and universities that offer progressive family and medical leave policies. I outlined a few of the programs in a previous post and I am preparing a post on some specific existing progressive leave policies that benefit tenured and tenure-track faculty. One the one hand, the lack of policies presents a challenge and places a lot of power in the hands of the department chair and dean. On the other hand, the lack of policies provides an opportunity for creativity and communication among faculty and the administration.

You will likely find yourself in a scenario similar to of Dr. Manning where your institution lacks a policy to accommodate the birth or adoption of a child. In lieu of changing the entire university over night (we can dream!), there may be existing policies that could be used for a family or medical leave OR there may be a medical leave policy that has not been used for child birth or adoption. Here are a few examples that may help you begin searching for policies at your institution:

1. Sabbaticals: At some institutions, tenure-track faculty are offered a semester sabbatical to pursue scholarly work. A sabbatical could be used to allow more time with a child while also pursuing a writing project.
2. Workers' Compensation: If you become ill during or after your pregnancy, you may be entitled to workers' compensation. Although the guidelines for approval require examinations by various doctors, you often receive 100% of your salary. Some states also offer additional services that connect to workers comp. Check out you HR website.
3. Shared Sick Leave: Although this is primarily aimed at classified professional staff, many universities allow for individuals to donate sick and/or vacation leave to a colleague so that he/she will get paid during a leave. Staff and administrators may consider donating to a faculty in need.
4. Temporary Leave of Absence: University administration is often granted the power to offer faculty a temporary unpaid leave. Obviously, this is unpaid but it may help if your college/department is being unreasonable with the idea of even taking time off teaching.
5. Special Leave: Similar to temporary leave, the university administration can grant unpaid leave to a faculty member.
6. Flexible Work Arrangements: Although flexible work arrangements do not generally apply to faculty, these different policies could be a good example of ways that a department chair or dean could restructure a normal faculty appointment. Use alternative work arrangements for ideas and to help illustrate the potential of leave/flexible work arrangements in your specific situation.

None of these policies are ideal, but they may provide a creative solution while you work towards more family-friendly policies. Please feel free to post other alternative leave policies.