Paid Parental Leave

Benefits

Lander University offers Paid Parental Leave (PPL) to all full-time employees which provides two or six weeks of paid leave for the birth, adoption, or foster care placement of a child.

Requesting PPL

Employees shall be required to certify that they will use PPL following the birth of a biological newborn child or to provide care to a child by completing and signing a form requesting PPL and identifying the leave to which they are entitled.

Requests to use PPL should be submitted at least 30 days prior to the date PPL will start. If 30 days’ notice is not possible, an employee is required to provide notice as soon as practicable.

An employee may withdraw their request for PPL at any time prior to the start of the PPL. However, an employee on FMLA leave may not use leave without pay if PPL is available. The request to withdraw the request must be submitted in writing.
Upon receiving a request for PPL and documentation of the birth or placement of a child, the agency must notify the employee of their eligibility status within five business days or as soon as is practical. All documents must include the date of the qualifying event and reflect that the employee is a parent of the child.

Employee Request for Paid Parental Leave Form (PDF)

Required Documentation

Employees must submit the requested required documentation to receive PPL within 30 days of the start of PPL or as soon as is practical after the documentation becomes available. Employees may be permitted to begin PPL following the qualifying event and pending receipt of this documentation. However, if the required documentation is not provided within 30 days of the start of PPL, or as soon as is practical after the documentation becomes available, the employee will be required to substitute all other paid leave available and, if sufficient leave is not available, will be placed on Leave Without Pay for the period they were absent from work. Please note the documentation required related to FMLA leave is governed by the FMLA. While the request for PPL and the paperwork related to FMLA leave require some of the same information, the PPL request and FMLA paperwork are separate documents.

The documentation required for PPL is provided in the table below. The employee is required to supply only one form of documentation and may choose which documentation to provide based on the applicable qualifying event.

Qualifying Event	Required Documentation
Adoption	Adoption order and/or agreement confirming the initial date of placement.
Birth	Birth Certificate or Proof of Birth Certificate of Birth Resulting in Stillbirth Certified DNA Results Custody Order
Foster Placement	Foster Care Placement Agreement Custody Order

Eligibility

The following employee groups are eligible for PPL: Any employee occupying any portion of a FTE position, a temporary grant position or time-limited project position. This includes research grant employees.

There is no service requirement to be eligible for PPL. Employees who meet the requirements described above are immediately eligible for PPL. Eligibility determinations are made as of the date of the qualifying event.

To qualify for PPL under the provisions described in this version of the guidelines, the adoption, birth, stillbirth or foster care placement must occur on or after Oct. 1, 2026.

An eligible state employee shall receive no more than one occurrence of six or four weeks of PPL for any twelve-month period, even if more than one qualifying event occurs. Regardless of the qualifying event (adoption, birth, stillbirth or foster care placement), the entitlement to PPL expires at the end of the twelve-month period beginning on the date of the qualifying event. If the leave is not used by the eligible state employee before the end of the twelve-month period following the birth, stillbirth, adoption or foster placement, the leave cannot be carried forward for subsequent use. Any leave remaining at the end of the twelve-month period following the qualifying event or at separation of employment is forfeited and the employee is not paid out for the leave. PPL may not be donated.

Definitions

Child: a newborn biological child or foster of a child in state custody and under the age of 18 or a child initially legally placed for adoption and under the age of 18. No child can have more than two parents eligible for paid parental leave.

Eligible State Employee: Any employee occupying any portion of a FTE position, a temporary grant position or time-limited project position. This includes research grant employees.

Paid Parental Leave (PPL): six weeks of paid leave at one hundred percent of the eligible state employee’s base pay or four weeks of paid leave at one hundred percent of the eligible state employee’s base pay. Leave for part-time eligible state employees must be on a prorated basis corresponding to the percentage of hours they are normally scheduled to work.

Parent/Co-Parent: the person listed as a legal parent in the applicable required documentation (birth certificate, adoption order, etc.) or the foster parent of a child.

Qualifying Event: the birth of a newborn biological child to an eligible state employee, or after a co-parent’s birth of a newborn child, fostering a child in state custody, the initial legal placement of a child by adoption or stillbirth. Stillbirths are considered births for the purposes of PPL. A “Certificate of Birth Resulting in Stillbirth” issued in accordance with Section 44-55 of the South Carolina Code of Laws should be provided as documentation of this qualifying event. To qualify for PPL under the provisions described in this version of the guidelines, the qualifying event must occur on or after Oct. 1, 2026.

Leave Amount

The amount of leave available depends on the qualifying event (adoption, birth, stillbirth or foster care placement) and the relationship of the state employee to the child. Eligible employees are eligible for PPL as described below:

Adoption:
1. Eligible employees who are primarily responsible for furnishing the care and nurture of their child initially placed for legal adoption and under the age of 18, are entitled to six weeks of PPL.
2. Eligible employees who are not primarily responsible for furnishing the care and nurture of their child initially placed for legal adoption under the age of 18 are entitled to four weeks of PPL.
3. Only one Eligible State Employee may be designated the parent primarily responsible for furnishing the care and nurture of their child.
Birth and Stillbirth:
1. Eligible employees who give birth to a biological newborn child or experience stillbirth are entitled to six weeks of PPL.
2. Eligible employees whose co-parent gives birth to a biological newborn child or experience stillbirth are entitled to receive four weeks of PPL.
Foster Care:
1. Eligible employees who foster a child under the age of 18 in state custody are entitled to receive four weeks of PPL.

PPL Usage

Employees do not have to exhaust all other forms of leave, such as sick or annual leave, before being eligible to take PPL.

If both parents are eligible state employees, PPL may be taken concurrently, consecutively, or at a different time than the other eligible state employee. No child may have more than two parents eligible for PPL.

PPL shall not be used before the qualifying event. If an employee requires leave before the birth, adoption, or foster care placement due to medical reasons or to fulfill legal obligations, other available leave balances shall be utilized per the agency’s leave policy.

Adoption, Birth and Stillbirth:
An eligible employee’s PPL taken for an adoption, birth or stillbirth must be taken consecutively. Therefore, once leave commences, the employee must continue leave until the leave is exhausted or they choose to return to work. Any leave remaining when the employee returns to work is forfeited.

Foster Care:
An eligible employee’s PPL for foster care placement may be taken consecutively or upon request and approval in four, one-week, increments. The employee is not permitted to take leave in increments smaller than one week.

An eligible state employee shall receive no more than one occurrence of six or four weeks of PPL for any twelve-month period, even if more than one qualifying event occurs. An eligible state employee may, however, be able to use PPL for two qualifying events that occur within the same twelve-month period so long as the start date of the second period of PPL is at least 12 months from the end date of the first period of PPL.

Paid Parental Leave and FMLA Leave

PPL must run concurrently with FMLA leave and any other unpaid leave to which the eligible state employee may be entitled because of the qualifying event.

However, an eligible state employee shall be eligible for PPL even if the employee has exhausted their FMLA leave, or is not eligible for FMLA coverage, at the time of the qualifying event.

If an employee becomes eligible for FMLA while on PPL, the employee must use FMLA leave, and the PPL runs concurrently with FMLA leave.

Payment While Using Paid Parental Leave and Accrual of Other Leave Types

The hours of PPL are calculated based on the employee’s average workday. PPL for part-time employees occupying part of a position is calculated in the same way other types of leave (sick leave, annual leave, etc.) are calculated.

PPL is paid at 100% of the eligible state employee’s rate of pay.

Eligible state employees shall accrue annual and sick leave at the normal rate and receive holiday pay while on PPL, if applicable.

FAQs

Yes. So long as the employee does not experience a break in service, they may continue PPL, but the period of PPL must be taken consecutively. Therefore, the employee will have to take PPL immediately upon return to the position eligible for PPL. If the employee does experience a break in service, they forfeit any PPL remaining upon the time of the separation.

While not specifically included in the Paid Parental Leave Bill, through its authority to promulgate guidance DSHR has determined the birth of a child through surrogacy to an eligible state employee will be considered a qualifying event. For assistance processing PPL in SCEIS for this qualifying event please contact your DSHR consultant.

While not specifically included in the Paid Parental Leave Bill, through its authority to promulgate guidance DSHR has determined the birth of a non-biological child conceived through in vitro fertilization to an eligible state employee will be considered a qualifying event.

Sick leave and PPL run concurrently with FMLA leave but the employee may decide which leave to use first. However, the employee may only use sick leave for the period they are medically unable to work or for family sick leave (up to 10 working days) if the leave qualifies. Also, once the PPL begins, the employee must continue with PPL until this leave is exhausted.

If the employee exhausts sick leave and PPL and has remaining FMLA leave available, they may use annual leave, other available leave or leave without pay.

Yes, as long as the employee would otherwise be eligible to use other paid leave types if available (sick leave, annual leave, etc.). However, if an employee is suspended pending an investigation or for disciplinary reasons, they would not be able to substitute any type of paid leave, including PPL, for the time they are suspended.

The employee must take all time consecutively. The employee could take a partial day at the start of the leave period but after that, they would have to take full days until their leave is exhausted. Depending on the shift worked by the employee, the PPL may be exhausted in the middle of a workday resulting in a partial day of PPL. Employees may use a different type of leave (sick, annual, leave without pay) or may work for the partial workday following the exhaustion of the PPL.

PPL as described in these guidelines complies with amendments made to Sections 8-11-150 and 8-11-155 of the South Carolina Code of Laws which are effective Oct. 1, 2026. Therefore, PPL taken in accordance with these guidelines, is only available if the qualifying event occurs on or after Oct. 1, 2026. For qualifying events which occurred before this date, please refer to the version of the Paid Parental Leave Toolkit applicable to qualifying events which occurred between Oct. 1, 2022, and Sept. 30, 2026.

In general, the same considerations applied to requests for FMLA time off for bonding should be applied to requests for PPL. Therefore, requests for periods of leave should, generally, be granted for the time requested by the employee so long as the requested time is within 12 months of the qualifying event.

PPL is calculated based on the employee’s average workday as defined in State Human Resources Regulations.

Workday (Average): the number of hours upon which leave, and holidays are based. To determine the number of hours in an average workday, divide the total number of hours an employee is regularly scheduled to work during a week by five (regardless of the number of days the employee actually reports to work).

Therefore, an employee who works an alternate work schedule will be eligible for the number of hours equal to the average workday multiplied by five days, multiplied by four or six weeks, regardless of the employee’s actual work schedule. For example, an employee whose average workday is eight hours but works an alternate work schedule of 10 hours for four days and is off one day a week will be eligible to use 160 hours (four weeks) or 240 hours (six weeks) of PPL.

The employee would enter 10 hours of PPL for four days and no leave for the fifth day each week.

The employee will initially be entitled to 240 hours of PPL and will use 120 hours while employed at Agency A. Upon transfer to Agency B the employee will have 112.5 hours of PPL available (3 weeks × 5 days × 7.5 hours) but must take PPL beginning their first day at Agency B. Because leave for the birth of a biological newborn child must be taken consecutively, the employee cannot begin work at Agency B and then, at some later date, take PPL.

The employee will initially be entitled to 225 hours of PPL and will use 112.5 hours while employed at Agency A. Upon transfer to Agency B the employee will have 120 hours of PPL available (3 weeks × 5 days × 8 hours) but must take PPL beginning their first day at Agency B. Because leave for the birth of a biological newborn child must be taken consecutively, the employee cannot begin work at Agency B and then, at some later date, take PPL.

The employee will initially be entitled to 160 hours of PPL and will use 40 hours while employed at Agency A. Upon transfer to Agency B the employee will have 112.5 hours of PPL available (3 weeks × 5 days × 7.5 hours) and may take the remaining three weeks of PPL while employed at Agency B.

The employee will initially be entitled to 160 hours of PPL and will use 37.5 hours while employed at Agency A. Upon transfer to Agency B the employee will have 112.5 hours of PPL available (3 weeks x 5 days x 7.5 hours) and may take the remaining three weeks of PPL while employed at Agency B.