UNDER REVISION             COUNTY OF SANTA CRUZ

                          MATERNITY LEAVE POLICY

 

 

There are two distinct periods to a maternity leave: (1) a period of medi-

cal disability; and (2) any leave taken for personal reasons.

 

 

MEDICAL DISABILITY

 

The period of medical disability is governed by State law which provides

that:

 

     1.   Childbirth and related medical conditions should be treated as

          any other medical disability.

 

     2.   It is an unlawful employment practice...for any employer to

          refuse to allow a female employee, affected by pregnancy or re-

          lated medical conditions:

 

          a.   To take disability or sick leave or any other accrued leave

               which is made available by the employer to other temporarily

               disabled employees; and

 

          b.   To take a leave on account of pregnancy for a reasonable

               period of time.  Disability leave should be granted for the

               period of time during which the affected female employee is

               medically disabled for work.  No employer is required to

               provide a female employee disability leave on account of

               normal pregnancy, childbirth or related condition for a

               period exceeding six (6) weeks.  If the period of disability

               is less than six weeks, the employee should either return to

               work or be granted another category of leave.  If complica-

               tions result in the disability of the affected employee

               beyond six weeks, the maximum period of leave the employer

               must provide  is four (4) months.

 

The six week and four month periods noted in paragraph 2 (b) above, pertain

to the entire period of absence for disability, and thus include both paid

leave and leave of absence without pay.

 

The provisions of State law cited above apply to all employees (e.g., pro-

visional, probationary, permanent) regardless of status.

 

Disability due to pregnancy or related medical condition applies only to

the pregnancy condition itself.  It does not include provision for such

activities as breast feeding or caring for an ill infant; time off for

these activities would fall into the personal leave period.

 

 

                          Section 150-1 - Page 1

MATERNITY LEAVE POLICY (continued)

 

 

It is the policy of the County of Santa Cruz that employees be provided:

 

     1.   six weeks of disability leave on account of normal pregnancy,

          childbirth or related conditions.

 

          Should the period of disability on account of normal pregnancy

          begin prior to the date of delivery, employees are to provided a

          maximum of six weeks of disability leave from the date of deliv-

          ery provided that there is a physician's certification of the

          employee's medical disability.

 

     2.   up to four months of disability leave on account of complications

          which result in the disability of the affected employee as sup-

          ported by physician's certificates.

 

          Additional disability leave on account of complications which

          result in the disability of the affected employee as supported by

          a physician's certifications may be granted at the discretion of

          the appointing authority.

 

          Disability leave requires a physician's statement that the em-

          ployee is unable to work under the current medical condition and

          continues only for the period of continued doctor's certification

          of employee medical disability.  The employing department re-

          serves the right to request a doctor's certification of disabili-

          ty at any point during the leave.  This certification is subject

          to review by a County physician.  In cases of pregnancy and re-

          lated medical conditions, the statement from the employee's phy-

          sician should indicate the estimated date of delivery, whether

          the pregnancy is normal or not, and if it is not, a statement of

          the diagnosis and prognosis.

 

PERSONAL LEAVE

 

Personal leave associated with maternity may be granted at the discretion

of the appointing authority in accordance with the provisions of Sections

164 and 165 of the Personnel Regulations of Santa Cruz County.  A reason-

able period of personal leave connected with maternity is two months.  This

two month period would include any requested time off which does not meet

the medical disability requirements stated above, including time taken off

prior to birth when the employee is not disabled, as well as time taken off

after the disability period.

 

 

                          Section 150-1 - Page 2

MATERNITY LEAVE POLICY (continued)

 

 

The period of personal leave may include either or both paid leave and

leave without pay.

 

OTHER REQUIREMENTS

 

Disability leave and non-disability leave requests should be submitted on

separate "Request for Time Off" forms.  The reasons for each type of leave

should be clearly documented.

 

Before an employee can be granted a leave of absence without pay for a

temporary disability such as pregnancy, childbirth and related medical

conditions:

 

     1.   The employee in the Law Enforcement Representation Unit and all

          management employees must exhaust all sick leave and compensatory

          time off balances.  The employee and department may agree to the

          use of vacation and/or administrative leave prior to the granting

          of leave without pay.  After exhaustion of compensatory time off

          and sick leave balances, management employees may qualify to

          receive Long Term Disability.  (The Long Term Disability policy

          for management employees provides LTD coverage for medical dis-

          ability after 30 days or exhaustion of all sick leave, vacation

          and compensatory time off balances, whichever is larger.)

 

     2.   The employee in the General Representation Unit must exhaust any

          remaining sick leave balance and all compensatory time off with

          one exception.  An employee may, after 30 days of disability,

          choose to receive LTD or to continue to use any paid leave.  The

          separate LTD policy for the General Representation Unit thus

          requires use of paid leave through a 30 day "elimination" or

          qualification period, after which the employee can elect to re-

          ceive LTD while on disability or to use available paid leave.

 

 

 

                          Section 150-1 - Page 3