The Faculty Parental Leave and Teaching Relief Policy encompasses both the availability of the University’s Paid Parental Leave Policy and additional teaching relief for specified faculty that recognizes the unique demands of teaching semester-length courses. The policy has been updated, in consultation with the Council of Deans and other senior leaders, to clarify timing, eligibility, and the definition of teaching relief. We encourage faculty to consult with their schools/departments, as schools may adopt policies that build on the University’s policy. The updated policy can be found in Section II.E.4 of the Faculty Handbook.

—John L. Jackson, Jr., Provost
—Laura W. Perna, Vice Provost for Faculty

Faculty Parental Leave and Teaching Relief Policy

The arrival of a new child into a family, at the time of birth, surrogacy, or adoption, typically requires that parents devote substantial time to childcare duties. The assumption of these substantial childcare duties often is incompatible with the time required by a faculty member’s full time University obligations.

A. Paid Parental Leave: Under a University employee benefits policy adopted in September 2018, full time Penn faculty and staff who meet applicable service requirements and are caregivers of children newly arrived in their homes through birth, surrogacy, or adoption are eligible for up to four consecutive weeks of paid parental leave for purposes of bonding. While on paid parental leave, the faculty member should perform no work for the University. Eligible faculty members are expected to take advantage of the Paid Parental Leave benefit.

Faculty members are required to notify their department chair and/or Dean in writing of their preferred leave schedule at an early date so that appropriate arrangements can be made to cover their responsibilities. The leave must be approved and taken within 12 months of the birth or arrival of the child.

B. Parental Teaching Relief for Faculty Teaching Semester-Length Courses. Four consecutive weeks of parental leave is not always practical for faculty with responsibilities for teaching semester-long courses or the equivalent.

• Standing Faculty and Practice Faculty: A member of the standing faculty or practice faculty, who is responsible for teaching semester-length courses and who is the caregiver of a child newly arrived in their home through birth, surrogacy, or adoption, is entitled, without reduction in pay, to an academic semester (approximately 14 weeks) without teaching duties. In addition, a member of the standing or practice faculty who gives birth is entitled to an additional semester without teaching duties corresponding to the semester in which the birth occurs.
• Other Full-Time Faculty Teaching Semester-Long Courses: An individual in eligible tracks who is responsible for teaching semester-long courses or the equivalent, is the caregiver of a child newly arrived in their home through birth, surrogacy, or adoption, is employed full-time, and has at least one year of continuous and contiguous full-time employment at Penn is entitled, without reduction in pay, to an academic semester (approximately 14 weeks) without teaching duties. Tracks eligible for a semester of teaching relief are: senior lecturer, lecturer in foreign languages or senior lecturer in foreign languages in the School of Arts & Sciences, lecturer in critical writing and senior lecturer in critical writing in the School of Arts & Sciences, lecturer in educational practice in the Graduate School of Education, and senior lecturers and advanced senior lecturers in the Graduate School of Education and School of Nursing.

Faculty are encouraged to consult with their dean/department chair, as individual schools may adopt teaching relief policies that build on the University’s policy.

1. The date of the arrival of the child through birth, surrogacy, or adoption and the faculty member’s teaching schedule will determine the appropriate timing for parental teaching relief. Semesters without teaching duties must be approved and taken within 12 months of the baby’s birth or arrival of the child in the home. The first semester of teaching relief will normally coincide with the semester in which the child is born or arrives in the home and the University’s Paid Parental Leave benefit is taken. If the child is born or arrives in the home during the summer, the first semester of teaching relief should be the fall semester that immediately follows.
2. The faculty member is required to notify the department chair and/or Dean in writing of their preferred teaching schedule at an early date so that appropriate arrangements can be made to cover their teaching.
3. Teaching relief is defined as relief from responsibilities related to course instruction. During the semester of teaching relief, eligible faculty are expected to take advantage of the University’s Paid Parental Leave benefit. During the University’s four-week Paid Parental Leave, no work should be performed for the University.

C. When both parents are faculty members at the University, each parent is entitled to paid parental leave or teaching relief as otherwise outlined in this policy.

D. University scholarly leaves and leaves for employment elsewhere may not be taken immediately after a parental leave and semester with teaching relief without the prior approval of the faculty member’s Dean.

E. Extension of the probationary period: For a “new child in the home,” non-tenured members of the standing faculty are eligible for an extension of their probationary period, and standing faculty-clinician educators and members of the research faculty are eligible for an extension of the promotion review period. See Section II.E.3.A. of this handbook for more information. Requests must be made within one year of the birth/arrival of the child.

F. Extension of the appointment term: Associated faculty (including practice faculty) and academic support staff who receive semester-length teaching relief under this policy will have their term of appointment extended by the length of the parental teaching relief.