Parental Bonding Leave Policy

Nourish will provide up to 16 weeks of parental leave to bond with and care for a new family member, following the birth of an employee’s child or the placement of a child with an employee in connection with adoption or foster care. The purpose of parental bonding leave is to enable employees to care for and bond with a newborn or a newly adopted or newly placed child. This policy will run concurrently with Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) leave and State Paid Family Leave Policies as applicable. This policy will be in effect for births, adoptions, or placements of foster children.

• Eligible employees must meet the following criteria:

  • Have been employed by Nourish for at least six months.

  • Be a full- or part-time, regular employee.

• In addition, employees must meet the following criteria:

  • Have given birth to a child.

  • Be a spouse or committed partner of a woman who has given birth to a child.

  • Have adopted a child or been placed with a foster child (in either case, the child must be age 17 or younger). The adoption of a new spouse’s child is excluded from this policy.

All employees employed with Nourish for at least 6 months on the child's due date or placement date will be eligible for Paid Parental Bonding Leave based on their average weekly compensation for the preceding 6 months (starting the day before the due date). Employees who have not been employed for at least 6 months on their due date or the placement date are eligible for unpaid leave.

• If you have been with Nourish for at least 6 months on your due date, you are eligible for paid parental bonding leave on the basis of 100% wage replacement of your average compensation for 4 weeks.

• If you have been with Nourish for at least 12 months on your due date, you are eligible for paid parental bonding leave on the basis of 100% wage replacement of your average compensation for 6 weeks.

• If you have been with Nourish for at least 24 months on your due date, you are eligible for paid parental bonding leave on the basis of 100% wage replacement of your average compensation for 8 weeks.

• If you wish to take additional leave beyond the paid period, you can take up to a total of 16 weeks of leave, and that remaining time will be unpaid.

  • If you have elected the Nourish Voluntary Short-Term Disability, you may be eligible for additional paid time. Please visit JustWorks to review your benefits enrollments.

  • Depending on your state of residence, you may be eligible for state-specific leave programs. Visit, State Paid Family Leave, for more information.

• To start your leave request, please login using your Nourish email on our leave management platform, Aidora. (https://app.getaidora.com/login) Once you enter your email, a link will be sent to you so you can access your account. After you are logged into the platform, you can create your leave plan, and submit it through Aidora for approval. Once approved, Aidora will prompt you to fill out the necessary paperwork. We ask that you submit your leave request at least 30 days prior to the proposed leave date (or if the leave was not foreseeable, as soon as possible).

• As is the case with all company policies, the organization has the exclusive right to interpret this policy.

• Optional but encouraged — share pictures in Slack #kiddos channel!

• Amount, Time Frame, and Duration of Paid Parental Leave

  • Eligible employees will receive a maximum of 8 weeks of paid parental leave per birth, adoption, or placement of a child/children. The fact that a multiple birth, adoption, or placement occurs (e.g., the birth of twins or adoption of siblings) does not increase the 8-week total amount of paid parental leave granted for that event. In addition, in no case will an employee receive more than 8 weeks of paid parental leave in a rolling 12-month period, regardless of whether more than one birth, adoption, or foster care placement event occurs within that 12-month time frame.

  • Each week of paid parental leave is compensated at 100 percent of the employee’s regular, straight-time weekly pay. Paid parental leave will be paid on a biweekly basis on regularly scheduled pay dates.

  • Approved paid parental leave may be taken at any time during the 12-month period immediately following the birth, adoption, or placement of a child with the employee. Paid parental leave may not be used or extended beyond this 12-month time frame.

  • In the event of a birthing parent who has given birth, the number of weeks of paid parental leave will “top off” the short-term disability leave/benefit provided to the employee for the employee’s own medical recovery following childbirth to the amount that equals 100% of the employee’s weekly salary.

  • Employees must use all paid parental leave during the 12-month time frame following the due date or the child's placement date. Any unused paid parental leave will be forfeited at the end of the 12-month time frame. Any intermittent leave must be taken in 2-week increments.

  • Employees will be expected to return to work after the benefits under this policy or at the earliest point permissible by law, whichever is sooner. Failure to return will be regarded as a voluntary termination of employment. No provisions herein shall conflict with an employee's statutory rights and protections under federal, state, or local law.

  • Upon termination of the individual’s employment at the company, he or she will not be paid for any unused paid parental leave for which he or she was eligible.

• Coordination with Other Policies

  • Paid Parental Bonding Leave taken under this policy will run concurrently with leave under the FMLA; thus, any leave taken under this policy that falls under the definition of circumstances qualifying for leave due to the birth or placement of a child due to adoption or foster care, the leave will be counted toward the 12 weeks of available FMLA leave per a 12-month period. All other requirements and provisions under the FMLA will apply. In no case will the total amount of leave—whether paid or unpaid—granted to the employee under the FMLA exceed 12 weeks during the 12-month FMLA period. Please refer to the Family and Medical Leave Policy for further guidance on the FMLA.

  • After the Paid Parental Bonding Leave (and any short-term disability leave for employees giving birth) is exhausted, the balance of FMLA leave (if applicable) will be compensated through the employees’ accrued PTO/ Sick / Holiday balance. Upon exhaustion of the accrued PTO/ Sick / Holiday balance, any remaining leave will be unpaid leave. Please refer to the Family and Medical Leave Policy for further guidance on the FMLA.

  • All health insurance benefits Nourish provides will remain active while the employee is on parental leave. Regular employer contribution to premiums for the employee and all enrolled dependents will remain the same. If your leave is unpaid, you must still pay your portion of the premium.

  • If a company holiday occurs while the employee is on paid parental leave, such day will not extend the total paid parental leave entitlement.

  • If the employee is on paid parental leave when the company offers administrative leave (known as an “admin day”), that time will be recorded as paid parental leave. Administrative leave will not extend the paid parental leave entitlement.

  • An employee who takes paid parental leave that does not qualify for FMLA leave will be afforded the same level of job protection for the period of time that the employee is on paid parental leave as if the employee was on FMLA-qualifying leave.

• Information on State Paid Family Leave (NY, NJ, CA, CT, WA, & MA)

  • New York employees can learn more about their right to Paid Family Leave by visiting paidfamilyleave.ny.gov/employees.

  • New Jersey employees can learn more about their right to Temporary Disability Insurance and Family Leave Insurance by visiting https://www.myleavebenefits.nj.gov/

  • California employees can learn more about their rights to job protection under the California Family Rights Act (CFRA) and California Pregnancy Disability Leave (PDL) at this link, and to salary continuation under Statutory Disability (DI) and/or Paid Family Leave (PFL) at this link.

  • Connecticut employees can learn more about their rights to job protection under the Connecticut Family Medical Leave here and wage replacement under the Connecticut Paid Leave program by visiting https://ctpaidleave.org/s/?language=en_US.

  • Washington employees can learn more about their right to Washington Paid Family & Medical Leave by visiting https://esd.wa.gov/paid-family-medical-leave.

  • Massachusetts employees can learn more about their right to Massachusetts Paid Family Medical Leave by visiting https://www.mass.gov/topics/paid-family-and-medical-leave-in-massachusetts

⏩ Proceed to Marketing Materials for RDs