In May 2021, Governor Kemp signed a new Parental Leave law for state employees. The new law and University System of Georgia (USG) policy on parental leave is effective on July 1, 2021. USG employees who meet the established eligibility criteria and experience a qualifying life event as defined below may request parental leave.

• Employee An eligible employee is defined as a full-time regular employee, part time regular employee, or temporary employee who has been employed with the USG for at least 6 months of continuous service and has worked a minimum of 700 hours over the six (6) months immediately preceding the parental leave qualifying event.

• Qualifying Life Event. The following are eligible qualifying life events:
  1. The birth of a child of an eligible
  2. The placement of a minor child for adoption with an eligible employee; and
  3. The placement of a minor child for foster care with an eligible

Key Provisions of the Parental Leave Policy

• Eligible leave amount: Up to a maximum of 120 hours of paid leave.
• The maximum of 120 hour is the same, regardless of the number of qualifying events within the year and across USG
• Leave may be used on a continuous or intermittent
• Unused leave does not carryover for future
• Parental leave has no cash value upon separation.

Requests for Paid Parental Leave

• Employees must provide their supervisor and the office of human resources with notice of the request for leave at least 30 days prior to the proposed leave date (or if the leave was not foreseeable, as soon as possible). The employee must complete the necessary HR forms and provide all documentation as required by the HR department to substantiate the request.

Should you have a need for parental leave, please contact Terri Cavender in Human Resources for assistance.