Paid Family Leave

An employee's benefits coverage (e.g., medical, dental) will continue during periods of paid family leave provided they pay the required employee contributions. The usual payroll contributions for benefits will be taken from your pay to the extent there is sufficient amount to cover them. Otherwise, RIT will either deduct the missed deductions when employee returns to work or have our third party billing administrator bill for the amount due.

• Bonding time for a parent within 12 months of the birth, adoption, or fostering a child.
• Caring for a close relative with a serious health condition or who is an organ donor.
  • A close relative is defined as:
    • Spouse/Domestic Partner
    • Child
    • Parent/Parent-in-law
    • Grandparent 
    • Grandchild
    • Sibling
• Time to concentrate on the needs related to a family member’s call to active military service to a foreign country.
  • A family member is defined as:
    • Spouse/Domestic Partner
    • Child
    • Parent

IMPORTANT NOTE! Employees who fail to contact their supervisor will be considered to be on unauthorized leave. If the unauthorized leave continues for three working days, there may be disciplinary action, including termination of employment.

All RIT employees, including adjuncts and student employees, who work in New York State are eligible, provided they meet certain criteria as defined by New York State:

• Employees scheduled to work 20 or more hours per week – eligible after 26 consecutive weeks of RIT service.
• Employees scheduled to work less than 20 hours per week – eligible after 175 days of RIT work.

Time spent on paid vacation, sick or personal days can be counted toward an employee’s eligibility determination. Time out on short-term disability does not count towards an employee’s eligibility determination.

Note - in order to be eligible for NYS PFL, you must be working in New York State.

PFL Benefit for 2024  

For leaves that begin in 2024, the NYS PFL benefit is 67% of your average weekly wage, with a maximum weekly benefit of $1,151.16 which is 67% of the New York State Average Weekly Wage (NYAWW). The maximum duration of NYS PFL is 12 weeks; the time must be taken in full-day increments and can be taken in a block of time or intermittently. 

Your PFL benefit payment for PFL days will be directly from Prudential. Payments are paid weekly, via a check or direct deposit. Paid Family Leave benefits are taxable. 

Employees are able to supplement their PFL benefits with vacation time to keep their pay at 100%. To request this, you must contact fmla@rit.edu to request vacation to supplemental PFL benefits.

NYS PFL days requested during any RIT holiday period will processed and paid as NYS PFL, not RIT holiday pay.

IMPORTANT! Employees who are unable to report to work due to an absence must notify (or have someone else notify, if unable) their immediate supervisor or the department head within a minimum of one hour of their scheduled reporting time. You do not need to give details about your need for leave, just let your supervisor know that you are unable to work.

Prudential, RIT’s insurance company for short-term and long-term disability benefits also provides FMLA and New York State Paid Family Leave (NYS PFL) absence reporting. Therefore, employees must call Prudential’s toll-free phone number (1-877-908-4778) to report a NYS PFL absence. If your absence is planned in advance, you should contact Prudential 30 days before your absence begins or within 2 days of learning of the need for leave if your absence is to begin within 30 days. 

Employees should contact Prudential as soon as possible so there is no delay in receiving paid family leave benefits. If you are unsure whether your absence should be reported to Prudential, please call and the Prudential representative will review your situation and determine what the next steps are.

Information You Will be Asked to Provide When You Call Prudential

• Employer Name
• RIT Control Number – 50757
• Employee ID
• Reason for your Absence
• First day absent
• Work Schedule
• Date of expected return to work if known, or the actual date of return, if you have already returned to work
• If your absence is related to illness or injury, name, fax, and telephone number of the treating physician
• If caring for a qualified family member, their relation to you.

After employees have set up their claim over the phone, employees should then log in to Prudential's secure website and click on the “Register Here” button and follow the instructions to set up your user ID and password. This will allow you to provide claims updates through the secure portal instead of making a phone call to report updated. 

• New York State Paid Family Leave benefits are provided for full leave away from work, which means an employee may not perform any RIT related work including emails during their Paid Family leave. 
• While on leave, you are required to communicate to your manager any updates to your leave status including any leave extension dates and expected return to work dates.
• Maintain communication with Prudential regarding any requests for extensions, return to work updates, etc.
• You are responsible for making sure the attending physician completes and returns all required documentation on a timely basis to Prudential.  
• You are responsible for informing RIT Human Resources and Prudential if you have permanently relocated and now work or reside outside of New York State.

If you and your spouse or sibling both work for RIT, you may both have the ability to be approved for PFL but you cannot be away from work at the same time to care for the same family member.

Paid Family Leave can be taken by employees who are eligible for time off under the provisions of the Family Medical Leave (FMLA). PFL will run concurrently with designated FMLA leave when the reason for leave qualifies under both PFL and FMLA. Eligible employees must then apply for both PFL and FMLA with Prudential. 

Additional information regarding FMLA and PFL:

• FMLA is a federal law, whereas PFL is a state law.
• FMLA is unpaid and PFL is paid time off.
• FMLA can be used for an employee’s own serious health condition, where PFL cannot.
• PFL provides coverage for additional family members that are not eligible under FMLA, including grandparents, grandchildren, and parents-in-law.
• PFL can be taken intermittently for bonding with a child where FMLA may be taken intermittently but not for bonding.
• PFL must be taken in increments of 1 full day, where FMLA can be taken in less than a day increments

Employees can only use a combined 26 weeks of Short Term Disability and Paid Family Leave during any 52-week period. 

Regular employees who are eligible for statutory benefits through their home state, must apply directly with the state for these benefits and provide RIT with written confirmation of these benefits. Confirmation of this benefits information should be sent to: fmla@rit.edu.

In addition, eligible employees must also apply for Family Medical Leave (FMLA) benefits through Prudential. FMLA provides an employee with up to twelve (12) weeks of unpaid, job-protected leave due to their own serious medical condition or that of a family member. See the FMLA page for more information regarding FMLA and covered leave reasons. 

Prudential’s Contact Information: 877-908-4778 or 844-778-4255/TTY

Information You Will be Asked to Provide When You Call Prudential

• Employer Name
• RIT Control Number – 50757
• Employee ID (Oracle ID not your UID)
• Reason for your Absence
• First day absent from work
• Regular Work Schedule
• Date of expected return to work if known, or the actual date of return, if you have already returned to work
• If your absence is related to illness or injury, name, fax, and telephone number of the treating physician

Once a non-NYS employee has applied for and been approved for disability benefits from their state and confirmed this information with RIT, non-NYS employees will receive the balance of the supplemental pay they are eligible for as follows:

• Regular employees will receive 100% of base pay for up to eight (8) weeks (state disability pay + RIT supplemental pay = 100% of pay.)
• If the employee remains disabled and approved for benefits, they will then receive 80% of base pay for up to an additional 18 weeks. STD will continue until the insurance company determines that you are no longer disabled, up to a maximum of 26 weeks. (state disability pay + RIT supplemental pay - 80% of pay.)

You must contact fmla@rit.edu to confirm your return to work. In addition, if your disability leave also was covered by FMLA, you will need to confirm your return to work with Prudential (877-908-4778 or 844-778-4255/TTY.)

• State Disability benefits are only provided for total disability leave, which means an employee may not perform any RIT related work including emails during the disability leave. 
• While on disability leave, you are required to communicate to your manager all updates to your leave status including any leave extension dates and expected return to work dates.
• Maintain communication with your state disability office as well as Prudential (for FMLA if eligible) regarding any requests for extensions, return to work updates, etc.
• You are responsible for making sure your physician completes and returns all required documentation on a timely basis to Prudential.  Please note, any request for extension of disability benefits beyond the initial approved through date will not be paid by RIT until we have received medical documentation to support continued disability and approved the extension of benefits. 
• You are responsible for informing RIT Human Resources if you have permanently relocated.

A state administered paid Family/Medical Leave will run concurrently with designated FMLA leave when the reason for leave qualifies under both PFL and Family Medical Leave (FMLA). Eligible employees must then apply for both their state administered leave and FMLA with Prudential.