Help / Time-off policies

Parental leave policy: FMLA basics and how to set it up

What a parental leave policy is, how it relates to federal FMLA leave, and how to set up paid parental leave in StartEase block by block, with screenshots.

EmployersParental7 min

What is a parental leave policy?

Parental leave is time off after the birth of a child, or after a child is placed with the employee for adoption or foster care, to bond and care for the child.

Why companies offer it

New parents return and stay.
It is a strong reason to choose an employer.
A written rule sets the same time for every parent.

What the law says, in short

The FMLA gives eligible employees of covered employers up to 12 workweeks of unpaid, job-protected leave in a 12-month period, including for the birth of a child or placement for adoption or foster care. Private employers are covered when they employ 50 or more employees in 20 or more workweeks in the current or previous calendar year. An employee is eligible after 12 months with the employer and 1,250 hours of service in the 12 months before the leave, at a location with at least 50 employees within 75 miles. FMLA leave may be unpaid or used at the same time as employer-provided paid leave. The Department of Labor also says to check your state labor department for added protections.

How to set up a parental policy in StartEase

Open Time › Time off and scroll to Policies.
Under Add a policy, choose Parental, then select Add policy.
Fill in each block below. The example is a sample "Parental leave" policy: your company chooses its own numbers.
In Review and turn on, read the summary sentence and select Turn on this policy.

This example is Unlimited, so StartEase keeps no balance and the Caps block does not appear.

Basics

The name, the kind of leave, whether it is paid, and what employees read about it. More on this block.

Box	What it means	In this example
Policy name	The name employees see when they ask for time off and on their balances. Required.	"Parental leave"
Kind of leave	What the leave is for. It picks the help link and the extra checks. It does not change how the balance is counted. Required. PTO or vacation: Rest and holidays the employee chooses. Sick: Illness or care. Needs a payroll admin to confirm it before anyone can use it. Floating holiday: A holiday the employee picks. Personal day: A day for anything personal, no reason needed. Bereavement: Time after a family member dies. Jury duty: Time on jury service. Learning and development: Time for a course, exam or training. Parental: Time after a birth, adoption or foster placement. Volunteer: Time to help a charity or the community. Weather or emergency: When the workplace closes. Custom: Anything else, with your own name.	Parental
Pay	Whether the hours are paid. Required. Paid: The employee is paid for the hours, at their usual rate. Unpaid: The hours are recorded but not paid. Unpaid leave reduces pay only where the pay rules allow it, so it does not cut an exempt salary when the rules forbid that.	Paid
Description for employees	Up to 600 characters on My time off: who qualifies and what the leave covers. Keep medical details out.	"Up to 4 weeks after a birth, adoption or foster placement."

Earning

How the balance grows. Nothing is earned until a payroll is approved. More on this block.

Box	What it means	In this example
How it is earned	How the balance grows. Required. By hours worked: The employee earns leave as they work, for example 1 hour for every 30 hours worked. Part-time staff earn less, full-time staff more. A fixed amount each year: Everyone covered gets the same number of hours a year, for example 80. Unlimited (no balance kept): No balance is kept. Each request is still approved and recorded. Use it when the need decides the time, as with jury duty.	Unlimited (no balance kept) Leave follows each birth or placement, so no balance is kept.

Rules

Waiting periods, negative balances, a yearly use limit and payout at exit. More on this block.

Box	What it means	In this example
Waiting periods are counted in	The unit for the two waiting periods below. Days from the hire date: For example 90 means 90 calendar days after the hire date. Hours worked: For example 80 means after 80 hours worked in approved payrolls.	Days from the hire date
Before it can be used	Leave can be earned but not taken before this. Blank for none.	90 A 90-day wait for new hires.
Most hours that can be used in a policy year	A yearly limit on hours taken. Blank for no limit.	Blank

Requests

How employee requests are handled. More on this block.

Box	What it means	In this example
Approve employee requests automatically	Ticked: a request that follows the rules is approved at once. Unticked: the Employer or payroll team approves each one.	Unticked
Most calendar days in one request	For example 10. Blank for no limit.	28 Up to 4 weeks paid in one request.
Days of notice an employee must give	For example 3 means the first day must be at least 3 days away. Leave you record yourself is not checked. Blank for none.	30 30 days, or as soon as possible when the date is not known.

Employees

Who the policy covers and where each balance starts. More on this block.

Box	What it means	In this example
All employees, including people added later	Ticked: everyone is covered, now and later. Unticked: tick each employee in the table.	Ticked
Starting balance (hours)	Hours the employee already has, for example from your old system. Blank starts at 0.	Not used: no balance is kept
As of	The date that starting balance is correct. Earning counts from this date, or from the policy's start date if blank.	Blank

Review and turn on

The last check before employees can use the policy. More on this block.

Box	What it means	In this example
Ready, or "N to finish"	Ready means every required box is filled. "2 to finish" means two boxes marked Required are empty.
Check the rules for this work location	Shown for sick, jury duty, parental, weather and custom policies. Local law can set rules for these.
The summary sentence	The policy in one line, for example "Paid. 80 hours a year, spread over each paycheck". Read it before you turn the policy on.
Turn on this policy / Turn off	Turns the policy on for the employees covered, or off. A new policy starts turned off.
Delete this policy	Only while no leave has been recorded on it. After that you can turn it off but not delete it.

Common questions

Is my company covered by the FMLA?

A private employer is covered when it has 50 or more employees in 20 or more workweeks this calendar year or last. The Department of Labor fact sheet linked below has the full test.

Does paid parental leave replace FMLA?

No. FMLA leave may run at the same time as your paid leave. StartEase tracks your paid policy; it does not track FMLA eligibility.

What the law says

Sources (government sites):

Note. This article explains how StartEase Payroll works and what the federal pages linked below say. It is not legal advice. State and city laws can add rules. Check them for each place your employees work.

Next: Volunteer time off (VTO) policy: what it is and how to set it up