OPM Releases New Guidance on Paid Parental Leave

The Office of Personnel Management issued an interim final rule to implement the Federal Employee Paid Leave Act (FEPLA) amendment to the FY2020 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), which provides 12 weeks of paid parental leave to certain federal employees who are covered by the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA). The act covers parents who recently gave birth as well as those who are adopting or fostering a child.

In order to take paid parental leave, an employee must meet certain eligibility requirements, including the completion of at least 12 months of federal service of a type that is covered under the title 5 FMLA provisions. The employee must have a part-time or full-time work schedule (employees with an intermittent work schedule are ineligible), and they must have an appointment of more than 1 year in duration (employees with temporary appointments shorter than 1 year are ineligible).

As the rule explained, only birth or placement events (for foster care and adoption) that take place on or after October 1, 2020 are eligible. Paid parental leave can only be used in the 12 months following the birth or placement of a child and does not carry over.

Leave can only be used if the federal employee is acting in a parental role for the child to support the objective of parent child bonding.  If requested by the employee’s agency, the employee must show proof or documentation that depicts use of parental leave is directly connected to a birth or placement.

Another provision of this rule is that federal employees must enter a written agreement to continue working for their agency for 12 weeks after their parental paid leave concludes. This provision applies regardless of whether or not the employee uses the full 12 weeks of paid leave. If an employee has multiple children born or placed on the same day, the 12-week parental leave is still in effect. 

In the FY2020 NDAA, several agencies were excluded from receiving paid parental leave, but a provision within the FY2021 NDAA will extend coverage to these agencies as well.

Comments can be submitted to the Federal Rulemaking Portal on or before September 9, 2020. The rule goes into effect October 1, 2020.