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must be permitted to use these accruals during a period of medical disability

after sick leave with pay has been exhausted.

Employees, regardless of sex, are entitled to leave without pay for child
care for up to seven months following the date of delivery.*

For purposes of computing the seven month period of mandatory leave,
periods during which the employee was absent for “disability” or use of

leave credits are included; the mandatory seven month period is not
extended by the granting of disability leave or the use of accrued leave.

During a period of leave for child care,
employees shall be permitted, upon request, to use annual leave, personal

leave and overtime credits before being granted leave without pay. As is the
case with other mandatory leaves without pay (e.g., military leave),

agencies shall not require that employees exhaust all appropriate leave
credits prior to being granted leave without pay for child care. Sick leave or

sick leave at half-pay may be used only during a period of medical disability
(Attendance Rules Sections 21.3, 21.4, 21.5, 28.3, 28.4 and 28.5). Except

in the case of continuing medical disability, any leave of absence beyond
the seventh month following childbirth shall be at the discretion of the

appointing authority as provided in Sections 22.1 and 29.1 of the
Attendance Rules. An employee who requests a leave for child care of

less than seven months is entitled to have such leave extended, upon
request, up to the seven month maximum and may, at the discretion of the

appointing authority, have such leave extended beyond the seventh month.
In certain situations, an employee may not be permitted to return from such

leave until the expiration of the period that such employee requested and

was granted. Generally, such restrictions on early return are limited to
situations where such return would be disruptive of a project or where the
termination of a replacement would occur.

During the seven month period following childbirth, the granting of leave

for child care is mandatory upon request from either parent. If both parents
are State employees, leave for child care is mandatory for one parent at a
time and the parents may elect to split the mandatory seven month leave into

two separate blocks of leave with each parent entitled to one continuous

period of leave but not to exceed a combined total of seven months of leave

*See Operational Services Unit Contract §10.16.

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