- Family & Medical Leave: WICHE may provide interns with up to 12 work weeks of unpaid, job-protected cumulative leave within a 12-month period and provides health benefits during the leave (up to 12 weeks). Unpaid leave may be granted in the following circumstances: their own medically certified health condition, pregnancy-related disability, father’s attendance at birth of child, parent’s care of newborn, if completed within 12 months following birth of child, placement of a child with intern for adoption or foster care, serious health condition of intern’s child under 18 years, or older child if disabled, or serious health condition of intern’s spouse or parent. The length of leave granted is dependent on the amount of time the medical certification and/or ADA accommodation requires. According to NV-PIC’s Stipends, Benefits, and Resources policy, interns must use their PTO prior to taking an approved unpaid leave of absence.
- Requesting Medical Leave: Whenever possible, interns must notify WICHE Human Resources at least 30 days prior to the leave of absence. Requests for leave should be made in writing to Human Resources, stating the reason for the leave, the starting date, and the planned date for return to work. If an intern wishes to make up any PTO hours, the hours must be made up in the week in which the PTO occurs.
- Disability Insurance: During parental leave, interns may be granted up to 6 weeks (for vaginal delivery) or up to 8 weeks (for C-section delivery) of temporary disability insurance payment. This amounts to 60% of average weekly wages during the designated time period. Disability payments for other types of medical leave are also paid at 60% and length of disability payments vary depending on the medical condition and when the doctor releases the patient to return to work. A maximum of 173 days is allowed under the short-term disability insurance plan, per incident. Pay via temporary disability insurance does not begin until identified employees have not been paid for seven (7) days.
- Health Insurance: If an intern is currently covered by WICHE’s insurance plans, these benefits continue for interns on family or medical leave. WICHE will pay for intern (and any eligible dependents’) insurance premiums while on unpaid leave. If the intern is able, but does not return to work after the expiration of the leave, the intern will be required to reimburse WICHE for payment of insurance premiums during the leave. Children may be added to the intern’s health insurance policy if coverage is elected within 30 days of the birth or adoption. Children also can be added to the intern’s health insurance within 30 days of the date of birth or 30 days of another qualifying event such as loss of coverage. Please contact Human Resources for more information.
- Return to Work: Interns must contact WICHE Human Resources at least two days before their first day of return from leave. If the leave is for an intern’s own serious health condition, the intern must provide medical certification verifying ability to return to work. Failure to return to work on the day after the expiration of leave may result in termination of employment. If the intern is unable to return to work, the intern must provide medical certification no less than two days before the anticipated return date.
- Hours Supplementation: Interns are required to complete a 12-month, 2080-hour internship. The number of workdays taken off during a leave of absence may be added as an extension to the training year. The intern should work closely with their site supervisor and the NV-PIC Training Director to develop a plan to complete all required training experiences upon return from leave. The timeline for evaluations will be adjusted on a case-by-case basis; upon return from leave, the NV-PIC Training Director, the site supervisor, and the intern will agree on a timeline for when formal evaluations will occur. Interns who take up to 12-weeks of family/medical leave are still eligible for the full amount of the NV-PIC stipend as long as they complete 2080 hours within the agreed-upon time frame. The intern must complete the full 12 months of training, achieve 2080 training hours, and receive satisfactory ratings on the final Intern Evaluation Form in order to complete the internship.
For interns who may need parental leave, they are encouraged to read the APPIC document: APPIC Guidelines for Parental Leave during Internship and Postdoctoral Training available on the APPIC website.