Family-Friendly Policies and Resources

The University of California and UCSF are committed to supporting faculty to balance the needs of career and family by establishing policies to create a supportive, equitable and productive academic environment.

The webpage provides information about current family friendly policies that can help faculty accommodate the dual commitments of home and career, including leaves and flexible scheduling options for having or adopting/fostering children; spending more time with family; taking time off for illness or disability and tenure-clock extension.

Note: while some of these policies are applicable to all faculty, the audience for this webpage is HSCP faculty.

Childbearing Leave

Childbearing leave is granted to a faculty member, who is a member of a UCSF Health Sciences Compensation Plan (HSCP), for the purpose of childbirth and recovery or related medical conditions. Childbearing leave is provided to a faculty member for the period of time before, during and after childbirth.

For more details, review the Childbearing Fact Sheet

Childrearing Leave

Childrearing leave is the time a UCSF Health Sciences Compensation Plan (HSCP) faculty member, who is a non-birth parent, is on leave to bond with or care for any child(ren) who becomes a member of the their family through birth, adoption or foster care placement.

For more details, review the  Childrearing Fact Sheet

Parental Leave without Pay

Parental Leave without pay is granted to a faculty member who is a member of a UCSF Health Sciences Compensation Plan (HSCP) and has responsibility for the care of a newborn or a child newly placed for adoption or foster care. Parental Leave without Pay is often taken in addition to paid childbearing or childrearing leave. During this period, the faculty member is not paid; however, accrued vacation may be used to provide compensation during a parental leave that would otherwise be unpaid.

Parental leave may be combined with Childbearing or Childrearing leave but the aggregate of all leaves may not exceed one year for each birth or placement for adoption or foster care.

For more details, review the Parental Leave Without Pay Fact Sheet

Elder Care Resources
Stop the Clock

By policy, UCSF faculty who are appointed in a Senate series (Ladder, In Residence, Clinical X) must complete the review and approval process for promotion from Assistant to Associate rank within 8 years of service. This requirement is commonly referred to as the “eight year rule.” The eight year rule applies to all years of service in any combination of Senate titles. Under qualifying circumstances, a faculty member may make a request to extend the 8 year limit for promotion to the Associate rank. This is referred to as “stopping the clock”. If the request is approved, the faculty member may defer their promotion by one year. The faculty member may qualify to defer their promotion for another year based on a second qualifying circumstance.

For more details, review the Stop the Clock Fact Sheet

Temporary Reduction in Percentage of Time for Senate Faculty

UC policy requires that all members of the academic senate must hold an appointment of full-time service to the university in their respective academic series. However, under qualifying circumstances, a UCSF Senate faculty member (Ladder, In Residence, Clinical X series) may be eligible to temporarily reduce their percentage of appointment from full time to part time.

For more details, review the Temporary Reduction in Percentage of Time Fact Sheet.
For planning, use the TRPT Memorandum of Understanding Planning Template.

Active Service-Modified Duties

Active service-modified duties is a period during which a faculty member’s normal duties are modified so that they may prepare for and/or care for their newborn child or a child under the age of 18 newly placed for adoption or foster care. ASMD is a request that requires approval by the department chair/ORU director, dean or designee, and VPAA.

At UCSF, requests for modification of duties shall not result in a reduction in effort. However, requests for reduction in effort may be approved under other policies for family accommodations including parental leave without pay, which may include a part time appointment and reduction in percentage of time to accommodate family needs.

During an approved period of ASMD, a faculty member is on active service and expected to perform some portion of their usual duties.  For example, departments may accommodate ASMD requests by adjusting clinical schedules, teaching, conference attendance and/or faculty meeting attendance. When reviewing the faculty member’s request, the department chair will take into consideration the teaching, research, and clinical needs of the department before deciding whether to grant the request for ASMD.

For more details, review the Active Service-Modified Duties Fact Sheet
For planning, use the Active Service-Modified Duties Planning Template.

COVID Care Modified Duties

New Program: COVID Care Modified Duties (CCMD)
COVID Care Modified Duties Fact Sheet
COVID Care Modified Duties Request Form

Pay for Family Care and Bonding Program (PFCB)
Adoption Assistance Plan
Infertility Benefits
Lactation Support
Whom to Contact for Assistance

1. HR Contacts in Shared Service Center and Disability Management Services:

If you are an academic employee inquiring about:

  • Your own upcoming leave of absence, please contact your Academic Leave Specialist in HR Shared Services,
  • Workplace accommodations, please contact Disability Management Services (DMS) at (415) 476-2621. 

You may find your HR Academic Leave and DMS Specialists via the Find Your HR Representative Search.

  • Visit the Human Resources website at https://hr.ucsf.edu/find-rep
  • In the “Find Your HR Representative Search”  search box, enter your last name (or department name) and wait for pre-populated options to appear
  • Search results will provide a list of your HR Contacts

2. Department Manager

3. Academic Affairs Offices by School
Dentistry: (415) 476-1323
Medicine: (415) 514-1460
Nursing: (415) 476-1170
Pharmacy: (415) 476-1170