Ask FELTG: Are holidays counted as hours for Paid Parental Leave?
October 20, 2020
This question came to Ask FELTG with the following hypothetical example:
The expected due date for a baby is December 26, 2021 and the employee is hoping to take Paid Parental Leave from December 11, 2021 through sometime in March 2022. During this period, we have four holidays: Christmas, New Year’s Day, Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, and President’s Day. Does the PPL cover those four holidays or will the employee get an extra 4 days off on top of the 12-week PPL?
Holidays are not counted in the hours of PPL because PPL is first Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA). PPL is just another bucket of hours to draw from to get paid for FMLA time, so the basic FMLA rules still apply. Here is the reference:
Neither any holidays authorized under 5 USC 6103 or by Executive order or any non- workdays established by Federal statute, Executive Order, or administrative order that occur during the period that the employee is on FMLA leave count toward the twelve-week entitlement. 5 CFR 630.1203(e).
So in the example above, there are extra days off because of the holidays. However, the scenario has one major error. An employee cannot use PPL prior to the birthdate. It applies upon birth or placement, not before.
For more guidance on this new leave entitlement, join FELTG for (any or all of) the virtual training program Absence, Leave Abuse & Medical Issues Week, April 12-16, 2021.
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