Leave Policies for Non-Faculty Academic Appointees (excluding postdoctoral research fellows)

Non-faculty academic appointees on the monthly payroll are eligible for parental and medical leave as detailed below. All leaves must be coordinated with the appointee’s faculty supervisor, department administrator and submitted to Lincoln Financial Group, Harvard’s third-party administrator. Please note, research associates, instructors and visiting scholars fall under academic plan three. Please contact Lindsey Bartlett, Academic Appointments Manager, at lbartlett@hsph.harvard.edu for any additional questions. Please note that postdoctoral research fellows are subject to different policies for maternity and medical leaves. 

Paid Family and Medical Leave:

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.

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.
• Employees may take up to 12 weeks of paid Family Leave to care for a family member with a serious health condition.

Total Leave: Employees may take up to a maximum of 26 weeks, in the aggregate, of paid leave per benefit year for the purposes listed above.

Coordination with Other Types of Leave or Approved Time Off

If an employee takes a leave associated with an MAPFML-qualifying reason under any other Harvard policy (including but not limited to the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), parental leave, vacation time, sick time, personal time, PTO, or any other type of approved absence from work), MAPFML leave will run concurrently with the leave whether or not the employee applies for MAPFML leave.

Maternity Leave:

Birth mothers are eligible for up to twenty weeks total of paid maternity leave following the birth of a child. Birth mothers are entitled to 8 weeks of medical leave and four weeks of bonding leave fully paid. In addition, annuals are eligible for an additional 8 weeks of bonding leave paid at 64% of their base wage replacement or up to $1,149.90 a week.

Parental Leave:

Non-birth parents are eligible for up to twelve weeks of paid parental leave following the birth or adoption of a child. Non-birth parents are eligible for four weeks of bonding leave fully paid, and an additional 8 weeks of bonding leave paid at 64% of their base wage replacement or up to $1,149.90 a week.

Medical Leave:

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. Employees are eligible for 8 weeks of fully paid leave, and another 12 weeks paid at 64% of their base wage replacement or up to $1,149.90.

Family and Medical Leave Act:

In addition to the paid leave policies described above, the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 (FMLA) provides an eligible employee (who worked with their employer for 12 months, with at least 1,250 hours) with up to twelve weeks of unpaid, job-protected leave for specified family and medical reasons. An eligible employee is entitled to up to twelve weeks of Family and Medical Leave during a rolling twelve-month period in the following situations:

  • Care for the appointee’s child after birth or placement with the appointee for adoption or foster care.
  • A serious health condition that makes the employee unable to perform the essential functions of her/his job.
  • Care for the employee’s spouse (or qualified domestic partner), child (including the dependent child of a qualified domestic partner), or parent with a serious health condition.

Absences from work for the above-stated reasons will be considered as Family and Medical Leave and will count toward fulfillment of the twelve weeks.

Leave Process

To request Family and Medical Leave (FMLA) or Massachusetts Paid Family and Medical Leave (MA PFML), please inform your department administrator and contact Lincoln Financial Group, Harvard’s third-party administrator, at least thirty days prior of your expected leave date:

Employees may contact Lincoln in one of several ways:

  • To file a leave request by phone, employees may call the Harvard-dedicated number at 1-844-600-3978.
  • To file a leave request online, employees may go to My Lincoln Portal at 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.

Funding for Leaves:

*PLEASE NOTE:  Academic Appointees are not eligible to supplement their leaves with paid time off; however, they may replace their leave with paid time off. Departments should ensure leaves are allowed on their funding sources. The complete duration of an appointee’s leave is financed by the School. Please contact OFA (Lindsey Bartlett) for costing or see below (OFA Wasabi and Billing).

Leave Checklists and Resources 

What happens when you Adopt/Have a Child (benefit information) (2024)

MA PFML Leave type and benefits for faculty and academic Appointees

Faculty and Academic Appointee Leave Checklist

Department Manager MA PFML Checklist 

MA PFML (University Page) 

OFA Wasabi and Billing Code Tip Sheets (2024)