Academic Policy  1420.12 

Faculty Modified Work Assignment for Maternity and Paternity

Purpose

The University of Arkansas, Fayetteville seeks to provide an environment conducive to meeting the holistic needs of its faculty. As such, this policy has been developed to allow faculty to utilize paid parental leave and/or apply for a modified work assignment to commence following childbirth, adoption, or placement of a foster child. The modified work assignment policy is aligned with the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act, as outlined in Fayetteville Policies and Procedures 203.2. Pregnancy, Childbirth, or Related Medical Conditions – Employment Accommodations.

Eligibility

For use during the period of their appointment1 , a full-time (100% appointed) faculty member, may request a combination of paid and unpaid leave (as eligible)  and a modified work assignment, up to a combined total of twelve weeks,  within twelve months following the birth, adoption, or foster care placement of a child in the faculty member’s care. 

Policy

Modified work assignments involve modification of teaching, service and/or research/creative responsibilities as agreed upon by the faculty member and the department chair/head and may include performing work primarily from home. Departments have flexibility in determining how best to cover the teaching and other obligations of the faculty member on a modified work assignment. For example, the department may be able to manage the faculty member’s modified work assignment with other departmental faculty covering classes; if not, the department will need to hire instructors or assign graduate assistants to substitute or assume the teaching duties. Modified work assignments are not a right to any employee. They cannot impede essential University functions and must be of benefit to the University. 

Modified work assignments are used in coordination with Parental Leave, sick leave, annual leave, and any other leave (such as unpaid leave) that a parent may be eligible for under the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) to allow parents to care for and bond with a child following the birth, adoption, or foster care placement of a child under the faculty member’s care.  

As per BOT Policy 420.2, eligible employees that have been employed by the University for at least two years at the birth or placement of the child in the faculty member’s home are eligible for six weeks of paid parental leave (to be shared between parents if both are employed by the University).2   Eligible employees employed between one and two years may be eligible for up to four weeks of paid catastrophic leave.    

Procedures

As modified work assignments are to be used in coordination with other leave a faculty member is eligible for, the modified work assignment and any leave taken through sick leave, annual leave, parental leave, unpaid leave, or modified assignment collectively, is not intended to result in absence from regular faculty duties, in excess of 12 weeks. 
If both parents work for the University and are requesting parental leave and/or a modified work assignment, each parent’s request must specify how long the other parent is requesting to be on parental leave and/or modified work assignment. While eligibility of parental or catastrophic leave is required to be shared between parents if both are employed by the University, both parents employed by the university are eligible to take their own sick leave or annual leave independently and are each eligible for a modified work assignment in coordination with any other leave they are eligible for.

Process
  1. The faculty member a) applies for paid Parental Leave3  (if eligible) and b) submits an FMLA application through Human Resources, if eligible.
  2. The faculty member applies for additional weeks of a modified work assignment through their department chair/head.
    1. Any leave taken through sick leave, annual leave, parental leave, unpaid leave, or modified work assignment collectively is not intended to result in absence from regular duties in excess of 12 weeks.
    2. A faculty member who will give birth should apply for accommodations through the Office of Equally Opportunity, Compliance, and Title IX (OEOC), as per Fayetteville Policies and Procedures 203.2.  OEOC will begin an interactive process to determine appropriate accommodations in coordination with the department head/chair.
  3. The faculty member’s written proposal for a modified work assignment should describe the parental related circumstances giving rise to the need for a modified work assignment and propose how their work is to be modified. The proposal should also detail how their modified work assignment will benefit the unit in which they work and indicate how it will  be coordinated with any paid Parental Leave , or any additional paid or unpaid leave (such as sick or annual leave) that the faculty member may be eligible to take as paid or unpaid FMLA leave, consistent with Fayetteville Policies and Procedures 409.4 and 203.2.
    1. Any requests for modified work assignments and leave in excess of twelve weeks for medical reasons shall be requested through OEOC according to Fayetteville Policies and Procedures 203.2 for faculty members who gave birth to a child.
  4. The application for a modified work assignment is submitted by the faculty member to the department chair/head for review.
    1. The chair/head’s recommendation, the faculty member’s proposed work assignment, along with the specific plan for funding the coverage of any duties not included in the faculty member’s modified assignment, shall be forwarded to the Dean for review. The Dean’s recommendation (which may include changes to the proposed modified work assignment), shall be forwarded to the Provost. The decision of the Provost (which may include changes to the proposed modified work assignment) shall be final. A notification will be sent to the OEOC in the case of a faculty member who will give birth. 
  5. The faculty member is asked to provide approximately four (4) months’ notice from the anticipated date of the child’s arrival, if possible.
  6. Leave must be used and recorded in Workday for any period of time that the faculty member is excused from duties rather than undertaking modified duties. This would include any circumstance where the faculty member is unable to resume regular faculty duties at the conclusion of the modified work assignment.

    Questions regarding the application of this policy may be directed to the Office of the Provost, in coordination with Human Resources Leave Office (hrleave@uark.edu). 

    Note: This modified work assignment policy is distinct from the right of a non-tenured, tenure-track faculty member to request a one-year suspension of the probationary period for tenure under Board of Trustees Policy 405.1(IV)(A)(4). However, if a tenure-track faculty member is approved for FMLA in conjunction with the birth or placement of a child and also seeks a one-year suspension of the tenure clock, the year of the tenure clock suspension should correlate with the timeframe for which FMLA is approved. 

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 [1] 9-month appointed faculty do not accumulate leave and are not eligible to take leave during the summer.

[2] Per BOT Policy 420.2, employees may receive paid parental leave a maximum of three times.

[3] Faculty are eligible for six weeks of paid parental leave if they are employed by the University for two years at the time of the birth, adoption, or placement of the child. Faculty are eligible for four weeks of paid leave from the catastrophic leave bank, to the extent leave bank hours are available, if they are employed by the University for one year at the time of the birth, adoption, or placement of the child.

[4] See https://hr.uark.edu/benefits/leave/fmla.php and Fayetteville Policies and Procedures 409.4, at https://vcfa.uark.edu/fayetteville-policies-procedures/hmrs/4094.php

Revised September 15, 2025
Reformatted for Web, April 28, 2014
October 31, 2012