Leave Information Center

A Guide For New Parents

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Pre-Adoption/Pre-Delivery

• Complete and submit the FMLA Request Form
  • If by the date of delivery or adoption you have not worked for the district greater than 12 months, you are not eligible for FMLA and do not need to complete this form (see LOA Request Form Below).
  • Complete the Family and Medical Leave Request (FMLA) Form a minimum of 30 days prior to your need for leave. Submit the completed FMLA form to the Benefits Analyst at the District Services Center, 8169 W Victory Road, Boise, ID 83709.
  • Note: All eligible pregnant/adoptive employees who miss regularly scheduled work days due to the birth or adoption of a child must complete the Family and Medical Leave Request Form.
  • After you complete and submit the Family and Medical Leave Application Form, you will receive a letter in response from the Benefits Department. Please sign and return it to the Benefits Analyst at the District Services Center, 8169 W Victory Road, Boise, ID 83709. If you have enough paid sick leave available, you may use it up to six weeks for a normal delivery and eight weeks for a C-section from the date of birth of the child. If the request to use paid leave goes beyond this time, you will need to provide medical certification from your health care provider indicating a specific medical condition for yourself or your child for paid leave approval consideration.
• Notify your supervisor
  • If eligible for FMLA, communicate with your supervisor that you have requested Family and Medical Leave and inform him or her of the dates for which you have requested leave. FMLA eligibility requirements.
  • If you are ineligible for FMLA, you will need to complete the Leave of Absence Request Form – see below.
• Record Leave in SubFinder/Absence Slip
  • Family and Medical Leave is non-paid leave which runs concurrently with any paid leave. You will need to utilize sick leave, personal leave, and/or vacation leave for the portion medically certified as a “serious health condition”. Paid sick leave may be used for up to six weeks following a normal delivery and up to eight weeks following a cesarean section. You will need to request the remaining time as a non-paid leave of absence. Any paid leave will run concurrently with FMLA. Be certain to enter your leave dates into SubFinder or on an absence slip. If you have questions regarding how to enter your leave into SubFinder, contact your school administrative assistant or the SubFinder office at 854-4081.
• Request a Paid/Non-Paid Leave of Absence
  • In addition to the Family and Medical Leave Request, you will need to request a Paid and/or Non-Paid Leave of Absence. For those employees who are not eligible for FMLA, they will need to complete the Leave of Absence Request Form only.

Post-Adoption/Post-Delivery

• Request a Sick Bank Grant (if applicable)
  • Regarding deliveries, if you are an eligible sick bank member and need to request a sick bank grant, you should be aware:
    • The sick bank committee will not approve a sick bank request for leave beyond the physician’s recommended recovery.
    • If you are a sick bank member and do not have enough personally accrued sick leave available to maintain a paid status through the end of your physician’s recommended recovery period, you should write a request for a Sick Bank Grant and mail your request to: Sick Bank Committee, District Services Center, Employment and Benefits, 8169 W Victory Road, Boise, ID 83709. The request must include a note from the physician that designates a specific medical reason for the request.
    • Note: Employees requesting a sick bank grant must complete and submit the HIPAA Authorization for Release of Information Form so that the Sick Bank Committee may use the employee’s private health information to make a determination in regard to approval or denial of a sick bank grant. The employee’s private health information will be kept strictly confidential.
    • The Sick Bank Request should be submitted once the baby has been born. Please mail in your Sick Bank Request prior to exhausting your personally accrued sick leave
• Change your Flexible Spending Account (if applicable)
  • If you are not currently a Flexible Spending Account participant, you may open a Flexible Spending Account within sixty days of the birth or adoption of your new child. For more information on what a Flexible Spending Account can offer you, please refer to the Flexible Benefits Plan Enrollment Form.
  • If you are currently a Flexible Spending Account participant, you may increase or decrease the amount of your Flexible Spending Account within sixty days of the birth or adoption of your new child. If you wish to do so, please indicate the amount by which you wish to increase or decrease your Flex Plan Election Amount on the Change in Family Status Form and submit the forms to the Benefits Department within sixty days of the status change.
  • If you are currently a Flexible Spending Account participant, and all or part of your leave related to the birth or adoption of your new child will be unpaid leave, you must complete the Express Flex Unpaid Leave of Absence Form. Because all or part of your leave will be unpaid, your Flex Spending Account will require special attention. Please refer to this form to instruct the Benefits Department on how you wish to pay for your monthly Flex Plan election amount while on unpaid leave.
• Add Your New Child to Your Insurance
  • Add your new child to your insurance plan by completing the Insurance Enrollment Form (available by request at ) as soon as possible after delivery or adoption. Although the Newborn Protection Act allows employees 60 days from the date of birth to add newborns to insurance plans, it is advisable to complete and submit the Insurance Enrollment Form as soon as possible after the birth/adoption of the baby/child since this helps Regence Blue Shield to process newborn bills more efficiently and eliminates the need to take several back premiums from the employee’s paycheck.
  • Complete and return the Change in Family Status Form along with the Insurance Enrollment Form.
  • New parents may wish to name their new child(ren) as a beneficiary of their BSD group life insurance policy and PERSI Base Retirement Plan. To name your new child as a beneficiary of your group life insurance policy, be sure to complete the Life Insurance Beneficiary section of the BSD Insurance Enrollment Form. To name your child as a beneficiary of your PERSI Base Retirement Plan, complete the PERSI Beneficiary Designation Form.
  • Up to two months prior to the child’s third birthday, employees who wish to add the child to their dental or vision plans should do so. Children are no longer eligible to enroll as dependents on employee dental and vision plans on or after their third birthday. By enrolling your child two months prior to his or her third birthday, you are ensuring that your child will be eligible by the enrollment deadline.
• Review your W-4 Withholdings
  • New parents may wish to claim the Child Tax Credit or change their tax withholdings by claiming their new child as a dependent on form W-4. Please note that the Boise School District Benefits Department does not offer tax advice and strongly encourages its employees to seek financial consultation regarding tax advantages or consequences of such changes.
• Return to Work
  • Return to Work Certification Form: Prior to the employee’s return to work, the employee should submit a Return to Work Certification Form. The employee should provide this form to her physician during a post-partum check-up and submit the form to the Benefits Analyst at the District Services Center, 8169 W Victory Road, Boise, ID 83709. Please note: this form is not required from employees returning from adoptive leave.

For more information email or call Employment and Benefits 854-4074. If you have Payroll questions, please contact the Payroll Department at

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