(a) Purpose. This subpart provides regulations to govern the granting of paid parental leave to covered employees. Since paid parental leave may only be substituted for unpaid leave granted following a birth or placement under specific provisions of the Family and Medical Leave Act in title 5, United States Code—specifically, section 6382(a)(1)(A) and (B) in 5 U.S.C. chapter 63, subchapter V—this subpart links to subpart L (Family and Medical Leave) of this part.

(b) Applicability. (1) Except as otherwise provided in this paragraph (b), this subpart applies to employees to whom subpart L of this part applies, as provided in § 630.1201(b).

(2) An agency head authorized to issue regulations on family and medical leave under 5 U.S.C. chapter 63, subchapter V, as provided in § 630.1201(b)(3), is authorized to issue any necessary supplemental regulations on paid parental leave, providing those supplemental regulations are consistent with the regulations in this subpart.

(3) This subpart applies to a birth or placement occurring on or after October 1, 2020. Paid parental leave may not be provided under this subpart for any period of time before October 1, 2020.

(c) Agency responsibilities. The head of an agency having employees covered by this subpart is responsible for the proper administration of this subpart, including the responsibility of informing employees of their entitlements and obligations.

(a) Applicability of subpart L definitions. The definitions of terms in § 630.1202 are applicable in this subpart to the extent the terms are used, except that, to the extent any definitions of terms have been further revised in § 630.1702(b), the provisions of that section shall apply for purposes of this subpart.

(b) Other definitions. In this subpart—

Agency means an Executive agency as defined in 5 U.S.C. 105, excluding the Government Accountability Office. When the term “agency” is used in the context of an agency making determinations or taking actions, it means the agency head or management officials who are authorized (including by delegation) to make the given determination or take the given action.

Birth or placement means the birth of a son or daughter of a covered employee, or a new placement of a son or daughter with a covered employee for adoption or foster care, that is the basis for unpaid leave granted under § 630.1203(a)(1) or (2) (which correspond to 5 U.S.C. 6382(a)(1)(A) or (B), respectively). For the purpose of interpreting this definition, the terms birth and placement have the meanings given those terms in § 630.1202, except that paid parental leave may not be granted based on an anticipated birth or placement.

Child means a son or daughter as defined in § 630.1202 whose birth or placement is the basis for entitlement to paid parental leave.

FMLA unpaid leave means leave without pay granted under the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) regulations in subpart L of this part.

Paid parental leave means paid time off from an employee's scheduled tour of duty that is authorized under 5 U.S.C. 6382(d)(2)(B)(i) and this subpart and that is granted to cover periods of time within the 12-month period commencing on the date of birth or placement to an employee who has a current parental role in connection with the child whose birth or placement was the basis for granting FMLA unpaid leave under § 630.1203(a)(1) or (2). This leave is not available to an employee who does not have a current parental role.

(a) Election. An employee may elect to substitute available paid parental leave for any FMLA unpaid leave granted under § 630.1203(a)(1) or (2) (which correspond to 5 U.S.C. 6382(a)(1)(A) or (B), respectively) in connection with the occurrence of a birth or placement. (See § 630.1206(b).)

(b) Available paid parental leave. (1) The paid parental leave that is available for purposes of paragraph (a) of this section is 12 administrative workweeks in connection with the birth or placement involved. The entitlement to paid parental leave is triggered by the occurrence of a birth or placement. The paid parental leave is considered to be available only if the employee has a continuing parental role with respect to the child whose birth or placement triggered the leave entitlement. The 12 administrative workweeks of paid parental leave may be used only during the 12-month period beginning on the date of the birth or placement involved.

(2) Since an employee may use only 12 weeks of FMLA unpaid leave in any 12-month period under § 630.1203(a), use of FMLA unpaid leave not associated with paid parental leave may affect an employee's ability to use the full 12 weeks of paid parental leave. Notwithstanding paragraph (b)(1) of this section, an employee will be able to use the full amount of paid parental leave only to the extent that there are 12 weeks of available FMLA unpaid leave granted under the birth or placement provisions in § 630.1203(a)(1) or (2) during the 12-month period commencing on the date of birth or placement. The availability of paid parental leave will depend on when the employee uses various types of FMLA unpaid leave relative to any 12-month period established under § 630.1203(c).

(c) Conversion of weeks to hours. For employees who are charged leave on an hourly basis (including fractions of an hour), the 12 administrative workweeks referenced in paragraph (b) of this section must be converted to hours based on the number of hours in the employee's scheduled tour of duty (as in effect on the date the employee begins a period of using paid parental leave) as follows:

(1) For a regular full-time employee with 80 hours in the scheduled tour of duty over a biweekly pay period, the hours equivalent of 12 administrative workweeks is 480 hours.

(2) For a full-time employee with an uncommon tour of duty (as defined in § 630.201 and described in § 630.210), the hours equivalent of 12 administrative workweeks is derived by multiplying 6 times the number of hours in the employee's biweekly scheduled tour of duty (or 6 times the average hours if the biweekly tour hours vary over an established cycle). For example, if an employee has an uncommon tour consisting of six 24-hours shifts (144 hours) per biweekly pay period, the amount would be 864 hours.

(3) For a part-time employee, the hours equivalent of 12 administrative workweeks is derived by multiplying 6 times the number of hours in the employee's scheduled tour of duty over a biweekly pay period. For example, if an employee has a part-time scheduled tour of duty that consists of 40 hours in a biweekly pay period, the amount would be 240 hours.

(d) Conversion of weeks to days. For employees who are charged leave on a daily basis, the days equivalent of 12 administrative workweeks must be derived based on the average number of workdays in the employee's established tour of duty over a biweekly pay period. For example, if an employee had 8 workdays each biweekly pay period, the days equivalent of 12 administrative workweeks would be 48 days.

(e) Change in tour. If there is a change in an employee's scheduled tour of duty during the 12-month period commencing on the date of a given birth or placement, and the employee has not used the full allotment of paid parental leave during such 12-month period, the remaining balance of paid parental leave must be recalculated based on the change in the number of average hours in the employee's scheduled tour of duty. For example, if a regular full-time employee has a balance of 120 hours of unused paid parental leave for a 12-month period that is in progress and then converts to a part-time schedule of 20 hours per week, the balance would be recalculated to be 60 hours. (Since the old schedule was 80 hours biweekly or an average of 40 hours weekly, the new part-time tour is half of the former full-time tour. 40/80 times 120 equals 60.)

(f) Leave usage. (1) An agency may not require an employee to use annual leave or sick leave to the employee's credit as a condition to be met before the employee uses paid parental leave. An employee may request to use annual leave or sick leave without invoking FMLA unpaid leave under subpart L of this part, and, in that case, the agency exercises its normal authority with respect to approving or disapproving the timing of when the leave may be used.

(2) Paid parental leave may be used in connection with the occurrence of a birth or placement only during the 12-month period following birth or placement. (See § 630.1703(b).) Paid parental leave may not be used prior to the birth or placement involved even if the employee was granted FMLA unpaid leave under § 630.1203(a)(1) or (2) for periods prior to the birth or placement event, as allowed under § 630.1203(d).

(3) An employee with a seasonal work schedule may not use paid parental leave during the off-season period designated by the agency—the period during which the employee is scheduled to be released from work and placed in nonpay status.

(g) Treatment of unused leave. If an employee has any unused balance of paid parental leave that remains at the end of the 12-month period following the birth or placement involved, the entitlement to the unused leave elapses at that time. No payment may be made for unused paid parental leave that has expired. Paid parental leave may not be considered annual leave for purposes of making a lump-sum payment for annual leave or for any other purpose.

(h) Documentation of entitlement and employee certification. (1) At the request of the employee's agency, an employee must provide the agency with appropriate documentation that shows that the employee's use of paid parental leave is directly connected to a birth or placement that has occurred. Appropriate documentation may include, but is not limited to, a birth certificate or a document from an adoption or foster care agency regarding the placement. An agency is responsible for determining what documentation is sufficient proof of entitlement.

(2) An agency may require that an employee sign a certification attesting that the paid parental leave is being taken in connection with a birth or placement. This employee certification may contain a statement in which the employee acknowledges an understanding of the consequences of providing a false certification (e.g., the possibility that the employing agency could pursue appropriate disciplinary action, up to and including removal from Federal Service, or make a referral to a Federal entity that investigates whether conduct constitutes a criminal violation).

(3) An employee must provide any documentation or certification required by the agency no later than 15 calendar days after the date the agency requests such documentation or certification. If it is not practicable under the particular circumstances for an employee to respond within the 15-day time frame, despite the employee's diligent, good faith efforts, the employee must provide the documentation or certification within a reasonable period of time under the circumstances involved, but no later than 30 calendar days after the date of the agency's original request.

(4) An agency may grant paid parental leave prior to receiving any requested documentation or certification under this paragraph (h) based on an employee's communications with a supervisor or management. Under these circumstances, the granting of paid parental leave is considered to be provisional, pending receipt of the requested documentation or certification.

(5) If the employee fails to provide the agency with the required documentation or certification within the specified time period, the agency may determine that the employee is not entitled to paid parental leave and may—

(i) Allow the employee to request that the absence be charged to leave without pay, sick leave, annual leave, or other forms of paid time off, as appropriate; or

(ii) If the employee acted fraudulently, charge the employee as absent without leave (AWOL) and pursue any other appropriate action.

(a) The pay an employee receives when using paid parental leave shall be the same pay the employee would receive if the employee were using annual leave.

(b) Paid parental leave is a type of leave that is counted in applying the 8-hour rule in 5 CFR 550.122(b) that determines whether night pay is payable during periods of leave.

(c) The pay received during paid parental leave may not include Sunday premium pay. (See section 624 of the Treasury and General Government Appropriations Act, 1999, Pub. L. 105-277, div. A, § 101(h), 112 Stat. 2681-518 (Oct. 21, 1998).)

(a) Advance agreement. An employee may not use paid parental leave in connection with a birth or placement unless the employee agrees (in writing), before the commencement of such leave, to work for the applicable employing agency for not less than 12 weeks beginning on the employee's first scheduled workday after such leave concludes. (See special rules governing cases of incapacitation in § 630.1706.)

(b) Interpretation. For the purpose of applying paragraph (a) of this section—

(1) The term “in writing” means an agreement with the employee's handwritten signature or an acceptable electronic signature, consistent with the requirements in 5 CFR 850.106, and also is deemed to include an agreement documented in an email or text message from the employee, as long as the employee, within 24 hours, supplies the required signature;

(2) The term “work” means a period during which the employee is in duty status, excluding any periods (paid or unpaid) of leave, time off (including holiday time off), or other nonduty status (including furlough or AWOL status). Such excluded periods will not count toward completion of the 12-week work obligation.

(3) The term “applicable employing agency” means the agency employing the employee at the time use of paid parental leave concludes; and

(4) The date paid parental leave concludes is—

(i) The workday on which an employee finishes using 12 administrative workweeks of paid parental leave during the 12-month period that began on the date of birth or placement; or

(ii) If the employee does not use 12 administrative workweeks of paid parental leave during the 12-month period that began on the date of birth or placement, the day that is the last workday on which an employee used paid parental leave.

(c) Conversion of weeks to hours. For employees who are charged leave on an hourly basis (including fractions of an hour), the 12-week work obligation must be converted to hours based on the number of hours in the employee's scheduled tour of duty, consistent with the rules in § 630.1703(c). If an employee's scheduled tour of duty changes before the employee completes the 12-week obligation, the agency must recalculate the balance of work hours owed, consistent with the rules in § 630.1703(e). An acceptable alternative approach is to express each period of work as a fraction or percentage of the average weekly scheduled tour of duty hours in the affected biweekly pay period and to sum those fractions or percentages until the 12-week obligation is completed.

(d) Conversion of weeks to days. For employees who are charged leave on a daily basis, the days equivalent of 12 weeks must be derived based on the average number of workdays in the employee's established tour of duty over a biweekly pay period, consistent with the rules in § 630.1703(d).

(e) Agreement to make reimbursement when applicable. In the written agreement described in paragraph (a) of this section, the employee must attest that, in the event the employee does not complete the 12-week work obligation, he or she agrees, pursuant to paragraph (f), to make reimbursement unless the affected employing agency (or agencies) determines (determine) that the reimbursement provision will not be applied.

(f) Application of reimbursement requirement. (1) If an employee fails to return for the required 12 weeks of work with the applicable employing agency after paid parental leave concludes (as described in paragraphs (a) and (b) of this section), an agency may require that the employee make a reimbursement equal to the total amount of any Government contributions paid by the agency on behalf of the employee to maintain the employee's health insurance coverage under the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program established under 5 U.S.C. chapter 89 during the period(s) when paid parental leave was used. An employee who separates from the applicable employing agency before completing the required 12 weeks of work is considered to have failed to return to duty under this paragraph. For the purpose of the preceding sentence, an intra-agency reassignment without a break in service will not be considered a separation.

(2) The determination to impose the reimbursement requirement is at the agency's sole and exclusive discretion, except that an agency may not impose the requirement if, in the agency's judgment, the employee is unable to return to work for the required 12 weeks because of—

(i) The continuation, recurrence, or onset of a serious health condition (including mental health) of the employee or the child whose birth or placement was the basis for the paid parental leave, but, in the case of the employee's serious health condition, only if the condition is related to the applicable birth or placement; or

(ii) Any other circumstance beyond the employee's control, subject to paragraph (h) of this section.

(g) Medical certification. An agency's determination not to apply the reimbursement requirement may be conditioned upon the employee's supplying of a health care provider certification supporting the employee's claim that a serious health condition described in paragraph (f)(2)(i) is causing the employee to be unable return to work for the required 12 weeks. In cases where an agency's determination regarding whether to apply the reimbursement requirement relies on a health condition that is not related to the applicable birth or placement or that applies to a person not covered by paragraph (f)(2)(i) of this section, the agency may also require a medical certification. An agency may require additional examinations and certification from other health care providers if it deems it necessary, but any such additional examinations must be at the agency's expense.

(h) Circumstances beyond employee's control. The circumstances beyond the employee's control referenced in paragraph (f)(2)(ii) of this section must be ones that truly preclude an employee from returning to work with the employing agency. Examples of situations beyond the employee's control include such situations as where a parent chooses to stay home because a child has a serious health condition or an employee moves because the employee's spouse is unexpectedly transferred to a job location more than 75 miles from the employee's worksite. Matters of employee preference or convenience will not suffice. For example, a situation where an employee chooses not to return to work to stay home with a well, newborn child would not constitute a circumstance beyond the employee's control for purposes of this exception.

(i) Multiple agencies involved. If an employee does not complete the 12-week work obligation and if more than one agency provided Government contributions on behalf of an employee for that employee's health insurance coverage during a period of paid parental leave, each agency is responsible for making a determination regarding whether to apply the reimbursement requirement described in paragraph (f) of this section with respect to periods of paid parental leave during employment with the agency. The employing agency that employed the employee at the time use of paid parental leave concluded is responsible for informing any other affected agency of the employee's failure to complete the required 12 weeks of work and of its determination regarding application of the reimbursement requirement. Any other affected agency will make its own determination regarding application of the reimbursement requirement associated with agency employment.

(j) Agency policies on applying the reimbursement requirement. Each agency is responsible for adopting its own set of policies governing when it will or will not apply the reimbursement requirement described in paragraph (f) of this section. A single agency-wide set of policies should be in place so that employees within an agency are treated consistently.

(k) Collection of reimbursement. The reimbursement requirement described in paragraph (f) of this section, if imposed, is subject to collection as a debt owed to the affected agency. (See the Federal Claims Collection Standards in 31 CFR parts 900 through 904.)

(a) If an agency determines that an otherwise eligible employee who could have made an election during a past period to substitute paid parental leave (as provided in § 630.1703) and enter a work obligation agreement (as described in § 630.1705) was physically or mentally incapable of doing so during that past period, the employee may, within 5 workdays of the employee's return to duty status, make an election to substitute paid parental leave for applicable FMLA unpaid leave under § 630.1703(a) on a retroactive basis. Such a retroactive election shall be effective on the date that such an election would have been effective if the employee had not been incapacitated at the time. Consistent with § 630.1206(f)(4), this retroactive election must be made in conjunction with a retroactive election under § 630.1203(b), if the FMLA unpaid leave was not already approved. As part of such election, the employee must agree (in writing, as described in § 630.1705(b)(1)) to meet the work obligation or pay the required reimbursement (if applicable) unless—

(1) Applying the work obligation and the associated reimbursement requirement is barred under § 630.1705(f)(2); or

(2) The agency later concludes under its policies established under § 630.1705(f)(1) that the circumstances support a determination to not apply the reimbursement requirement.

(b)(1) If an agency determines that an otherwise eligible employee is physically or mentally incapable of making an election to substitute paid parental leave (as provided in § 630.1703) and entering into a work obligation agreement (as described in § 630.1705), the agency must, upon the request of a personal representative of the employee whom the agency finds acceptable, provide conditional approval of substitution of paid parental leave for applicable FMLA unpaid leave under § 630.1703(a) on a prospective basis. The conditional approval is based on the presumption that the employee would have elected to substitute paid parental leave for the applicable FMLA unpaid leave and would have entered into the work obligation agreement if the employee had not been incapacitated. Within 5 workdays after returning to work, the employee must enter into a written agreement to meet the work obligation described in § 630.1705 or pay the required reimbursement (if applicable) unless—

(i) Applying the work obligation and the associated reimbursement requirement is barred under § 630.1705(f)(2); or

(ii) The agency later concludes under its policies established under § 630.1705(f)(1) that the circumstances support a determination to not apply the reimbursement requirement.

(2) If an employee covered by paragraph (b)(1) of this section declines to enter into the written agreement after being determined by the agency to no longer be incapacitated, the agency must cancel any portion of the 12 weeks of paid parental leave that has not been exhausted, and designate as invalid any paid parental leave that was used based on the conditional approval. The time covered by the invalidated paid parental leave must be converted to leave without pay unless the employee requests that other paid leave or paid time off to the employee's credit be applied (as appropriate) in place of the invalidated paid parental leave. To the extent the employee has invalidated paid parental leave hours not replaced by other paid leave or paid time off, pay received for those hours is a debt to the employing agency and is subject to collection under the Federal Claims Collection Standards in 31 CFR parts 900 through 904.

(a) If an employee has multiple children born or placed on the same day, the multiple-child birth/placement event is considered to be a single event that triggers a single entitlement of up to 12 weeks of paid parental leave under § 630.1703(b).

(b) If an employee has one or more children born or placed during the 12-month period following the date of an earlier birth or placement of a child of the employee, the provisions of this subpart shall be independently administered for each birth or placement event. Any paid parental leave substituted for FMLA unpaid leave during the 12-month period beginning on the date of a child's birth or placement shall count towards the 12-week limit on paid parental leave described in § 630.1703(b) applicable in connection with the birth or placement involved. The substitution of paid parental leave may count toward multiple 12-week limits to the extent that there are multiple ongoing 12-month periods beginning on the date of an applicable birth or placement, each of which encompasses the day on which the leave is used. Therefore, whenever paid parental leave is substituted during periods of time when separate 12-month periods (each beginning on a date of birth or placement) overlap, the paid parental leave will count toward each affected period's 12-week limit. For example, if an employee has a child born on June 1 and another child placed for adoption on October 1 of the same year, each event would generate entitlement to substitute up to 12 weeks of paid parental leave during the separate 12-month periods beginning on the date of the birth and on the date of the placement, respectively. Those two 12-month periods would be June 1-May 31 and October 1-September 30. The overlap period for these two 12-month periods would be October 1-May 31. If the employee substitutes paid parental leave during that overlap period, that amount of paid parental leave would count towards both the 12-week limit associated with the birth event and the 12-week limit associated with the placement event.

(a) Record of usage of paid parental leave. An agency must maintain an accurate record of an employee's usage of paid parental leave.

(b) Reporting. In agency data systems (including timekeeping systems) and in data reports submitted to OPM, an agency must record usage of paid parental leave in the manner prescribed by the Office of Personnel Management.