Section 124.136. Parental leave and benefits

(A)

(1) Each permanent full-time and permanent part-time employee paid in accordance with section 124.152 of the Revised Code and each employee listed in division (B)(2) or (4) of section 124.14 of the Revised Code who works thirty or more hours per week, and who meets the requirement of division (A)(2) of this section is eligible, upon the birth or adoption of a child, for a parental leave of absence and parental leave benefits under this section. Parental leave of absence shall begin on the day of the birth of a child or on the day on which custody of a child is taken for adoption placement by the prospective parents.

(2) To be eligible for leave and benefits under this section, an employee must be the biological parent of a newly born child or the legal guardian of and reside in the same household as a newly adopted child. Employees may elect to receive two thousand dollars for adoption expenses in lieu of receiving the paid leave benefit provided under this section. Such payment may be requested upon placement of the child in the employee's home. If the child is already residing in the home, payment may be requested at the time the adoption is approved.

(3) The average number of regular hours worked, which shall include all hours of holiday pay and other types of paid leave, during the three-month period immediately preceding the day parental leave of absence begins shall be used to determine eligibility and benefits under this section for part-time employees, but such benefits shall not exceed forty hours per week. If an employee has not worked for a three-month period, the number of hours for which the employee has been scheduled to work per week during the employee's period of employment shall be used to determine eligibility and benefits under this section.

(B) Parental leave granted under this section shall not exceed six continuous weeks, which shall include four weeks or one hundred sixty hours of paid leave for permanent full-time employees and a prorated number of hours of paid leave for permanent part-time employees. All employees granted parental leave shall serve a waiting period of fourteen days that begins on the day parental leave begins and during which they shall not receive paid leave under this section. Employees may choose to work during the waiting period. During the remaining four weeks of the leave period, employees shall receive paid leave equal to seventy per cent of their base rate of pay. All of the following apply to employees granted parental leave:

(1) They remain eligible to receive all employer-paid benefits and continue to accrue all other forms of paid leave as if they were in active pay status.

(2) They are ineligible to receive overtime pay, and no portion of their parental leave shall be included in calculating their overtime pay.

(3) They are ineligible to receive holiday pay. A holiday occurring during the leave period shall be counted as one day of parental leave and be paid as such.

(C) Employees receiving parental leave may utilize available sick leave, personal leave, vacation leave, or compensatory time balances in order to be paid during the fourteen-day waiting period and to supplement the seventy per cent of their base rate of pay received during the remaining part of their parental leave period, in an amount sufficient to give them up to one hundred per cent of their pay for time on parental leave.

Use of parental leave does not affect an employee's eligibility for other forms of paid leave granted under this chapter and does not prohibit an employee from taking leave under the "Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993," 107 Stat. 6, 29 U.S.C.A. 2601, except that parental leave shall be included in any leave time provided under that act.

(D) Employees receiving disability leave benefits under section 124.385 of the Revised Code prior to becoming eligible for parental leave shall continue to receive disability leave benefits for the duration of their disabling condition or as otherwise provided under the disability leave benefits program. If an employee is receiving disability leave benefits because of pregnancy and these benefits expire prior to the expiration date of any benefits the employee would have been entitled to receive under this section, the employee shall receive parental leave for such additional time without being required to serve an additional waiting period.

Effective Date: 06-30-1997