Taking a Leave of Absence

FMLA provides up to 12 weeks of unpaid, job-protected leave to eligible employees if you have a serious health condition and are unable to perform the functions of your job, or if you need to care for a spouse, domestic partner, child or parent who has a serious health condition, or if you need time off for certain activities related to the active military deployment of a spouse, child or parent.

Employees may take up to 20 weeks of paid Medical Leave in a benefit year due to the employee’s own serious health condition that incapacitates the employee from performing the essential functions of the employee’s job.

A detailed overview of the new benefits and summaries for each employee class can be found below:

• Summary for Administrative and Professional Staff, Non-Union Staff, and Internal and External Postdoctoral Fellows
• Summary for Union Members – HUCTW and SEIU Staff 
• Summary for Faculty and Academic Appointees
• Summary for Non-benefits-eligible and Terminated Employees 
• Massachusetts Paid Family and Medical Leave (MA PFML) Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Employees may take paid Family Leave for the following reasons:

– Up to 12 weeks to bond with a child during the first 12 months after the child’s birth, adoption, or foster placement.
– Up to 26 weeks to provide care to a family member who is a covered service member.
– Up to 12 weeks because of any qualifying exigency arising out of the fact that a family member is on active duty or has been notified of an impending call or order to active duty in the Armed Forces.
– Up to 12 weeks of paid Family Leave to care for a family member with a serious health condition.

Harvard provides eligible employees with short term disability (STD) benefits at no cost. You do not need to enroll in this benefit, which covers disability for up to 26 weeks during which you are unable to perform the material and substantial duties of your job due to injury or illness. Harvard’s STD program allows up to eight weeks of paid maternity leave for the parent who gives birth. Disability claims and documentation will be reviewed and decided on by Harvard’s STD claims adjudicator, Lincoln Financial Group (Lincoln). STD benefits will run concurrently with other eligible leaves such as federal Family and Medical Leave (FMLA), Massachusetts Paid Family and Medical Leave (MAPFML), and other state leave laws.

Harvard University explores requests from staff, post docs, academic appointments, and faculty with disabilities for workplace reasonable accommodations under the guidelines of the Americans with Disabilities Act as amended, and other applicable disability laws.

A reasonable accommodation is any reasonable change or adjustment to a job or work environment that permits a person with a disability to participate in the job application process, to perform the essential functions of a job, or to enjoy benefits and privileges of employment equal to those enjoyed by staff without disabilities. For example, a reasonable accommodation may include, but is not limited to:

• Acquiring or modifying equipment or devices
• Job restructuring
• Modified work schedules
• Removing physical barriers in a work area

The reasonable accommodation process, following the guidelines established by Title I of the ADA as amended, is a collaborative and interactive process between the employee, Human Resources, the manager/department head, and/or other subject matter experts such as University Disability Resources. While Harvard considers an employee’s preference when assessing requests for necessary reasonable accommodations, at times Harvard may offer an alternative accommodation, so long as the alternative is effective. For more information regarding this process, please refer to the Reasonable Accommodation Fact Sheet.

The Longwood Campus is committed to providing access, equal opportunity, and reasonable accommodation(s) for individuals with disabilities in employment, its services, programs, and activities.  If reasonable accommodations are necessary to provide access, please send an email to leave_ofabsence@hms.harvard.edu or call 617-432-1024. Requesters should request accommodations as early as possible, since they may take time to implement.

The forms required to apply for accommodations can be found below:

• Reasonable Accommodation Request Form
• Reasonable Accommodation Healthcare Provider Form (to be completed by Qualified Health Care Provider)

• Non-Massachusetts State PFML benefits
• Non-Massachusetts State PFML FAQ’s

To request Family and Medical Leave (FMLA), Massachusetts Paid Family and Medical Leave (MA PFML), or Short-Term Disability (STD), please contact Lincoln Financial Group (Lincoln), Harvard’s third-party administrator. Employees may contact Lincoln in one of several ways:

• To file a leave request by phone, please call the Harvard-dedicated number at 1-844-600-3978. Intake is available 8AM – 10 PM EST, Monday – Friday.
• To file a leave request online, please go to MyLincolnPortal at www.mylincolnportal.com and click on “Register for an account” under the “Log In” button. Instructions will be provided on the website throughout the leave submission process.

Workers’ Compensation is a state-mandated program that provides temporary income in the event you experience a work-related injury or illness that prevents you from performing your job. Harvard’s third-party administrator is PMA Companies (PMA).

• Eligibility Grid
• Workers’ Compensation Overview
• Accident Report Instructions for Managers

Unpaid leaves of absence may be available to employees (non-teaching exempt staff and overtime eligible non-bargaining unit staff; bargaining unit staff should consult their collective bargaining agreement) for absences of 30 consecutive calendar days or more. Types of additional unpaid leaves include Short Term Personal, Long Term Personal, Career Development, and Government Service. All requests for unpaid leaves must be discussed with the supervisor/department head and local human resources officer. All conditions of the leave agreement must be established and agreed to in writing prior to the start of the leave.

• Unpaid Leave of Absence Form

Harvard grants leaves of absence and extends reemployment rights to employees who engage in military service, in accordance with applicable law. Because many circumstances and specific provisions that are not listed here can affect the interpretation of an individual case, the local human resource office and/or the Office of Labor and Employee Relations should be consulted about the University’s policy and obligations. If an employee enlists or is called to active military duty or training, he or she should notify his or her human resources officer immediately. A pay supplement may also be available for employees called to military service.