I am Having a Baby

When pregnancy-related conditions, childbirth, or other related medical conditions prevent you from working, you will be granted a leave of absence when required by your healthcare provider. Written documentation of the medical necessity for leave should be submitted to Human Resource Services. 

FMLA Leave

Employees who are eligible for leave entitlement under the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) may take up to a total of 12 weeks of leave for any combination of reasons related to pregnancy, the birth of a child, and/or to bond with your newborn child.  An absence request for Leave of Absence > FMLA should be submitted in UNI Works. 

Paid Parental Leave

Employees may request paid parental leave for the birth of a child. If you are the parent giving birth, you may take up to four weeks (160 hours maximum) of paid time off. If you are the parent who is not giving birth, you may take up to one week (40 hours maximum) of paid time off. Paid parental leave does not require use of accrued time off and may be used on a continuous or intermittent basis. This leave type requires approval from HRS and will run concurrently with your FMLA leave entitlement, if eligible.  

Pregnancy Leave

Employees who aren't eligible for FMLA leave entitlement will be granted up to eight weeks of medically-indicated leave under Iowa Code 216.6(2). Paid parental leave may also be utilized concurrently with pregnancy leave. A request for Leave of Absence > Pregnancy Leave should be submitted in UNI Works in these instances. 

Paid Time Off

To maintain your regular pay during FMLA or Pregnancy leave, you will need to submit requests for time off in conjunction with your leave of absence. Faculty and staff may use sick accruals during the medically necessary recovery period immediately following the birth of a child. The postpartum recovery period is typically six to eight weeks in duration.  Additional time off for approved FMLA bonding with a newborn child after the postpartum recovery period has concluded may be covered with use of family caregiving hours, vacation, compensatory time (if applicable), or paid parental leave. 

Questions may be directed to the Leave & Accommodations Coordinator at hrs-leaves@uni.edu or 319-273-6164

The Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (PWFA) requires employers to engage in the interactive process to identify reasonable accommodations that will enable an employee with known limitations related to, affected by, or arising out of pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions to remain at work. Questions regarding pregnancy accommodations may be directed to the Leave & Accommodations Coordinator at hrs-leaves@uni.edu or 319-273-6164.

The University provides eight private lactation rooms for mothers to use to express milk. Lactation rooms are located in the Applied Engineering Building, Bartlett Hall, Child Development Center, Gilchrist Hall, Gallagher-Bluedorn, Maucker Union, and Schindler Education Center.

You can enroll in coverage or add dependents to your health, dental, or vision insurance within 60 calendar days of having a baby. You also have the option to change plan options or enroll in a different plan. If you make a midyear plan change, any deductible and out-of-pocket amounts already accumulated will carry over to your new plan.

Coverage for the newborn will be effective on the date of birth. If you are making a plan change or enrolling for the first time, coverage for the employee and any other covered family members will be effective the first of the month following the birth.

Any additional changes to your plan must be made during Open Enrollment.

Pregnancy Support

For pregnant women covered on one of UNI's health insurance plans, Wellmark Blue Cross and Blue Shield offers a free Pregnancy Support Program. Among the services offered is one-on-one support from an Advanced Care Nurse that is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Call 800-552-39930 ext. 3727 to request a call from an Advanced Care Nurse.

Wellmark Case Management

If your health needs are complex or long-term, you might benefit from case management. An experienced health care professional can work closely with you, your providers and other resources to ensure you get the right care and support for your health needs.

Support is available for:

• Mental Health
• Complex Health Issues
• Pregnancy
• LGBTQ+

Additional Free Teeth Cleaning

Pregnant employees enrolled in UNI’s dental plan are eligible for one additional no-cost teeth cleaning through Delta Dental’s Enhanced Benefits program. This additional cleaning supports the oral health of both the mother and baby.

Preventive Eye Exam

Vision changes are common during pregnancy. If you are enrolled in one of UNI’s health insurance plans, you are eligible for one covered eye exam per calendar year.

You can change or enroll in an FSA due to a qualifying life event. Your deductions will start the month after the election is made but you are able to submit for reimbursement for claims from the date the baby was born.

Eligible employees can elect/increase/decrease or de-enroll from voluntary term life for themselves, their spouse or their children due to the birth of a child. The premium for VTL includes accidental death and dismemberment insurance and can be calculated for each coverage amount by viewing page four of the Group Voluntary Term Life Coverage document. If elected, coverage for the baby will begin the day they are born.

If you need to update your life insurance beneficiaries due to a qualifying life event, please use the UNI Works System.

For IPERS beneficiaries, please log into the IPERS website to update.

To update your TIAA beneficiaries, please log onto the TIAA website to update.

Effective July 1, 2024, employees who experience a qualified life event and request changes to their family health and/or dental coverage are required to verify all dependent relationships by submitting appropriate legal documentation.

Examples of documentation:

1. Spouse - marriage certificate, common law spouse affidavit
2. Domestic Partner - notarized domestic partner affidavit
3. Child - birth certificate which includes parents names, adoption paperwork, court order, or guardianship paperwork

At the time of your life event, documentation may be securely uploaded through UNI Works or presented in person at the Human Resources Office (Gilchrist 025). All documentation must be reviewed by HRS staff; however, no copies will be retained after the initial review (e.g., electronically submitted documents will be purged). For your security, please do not send personal documentation via email.

All documentation for dependent verification must be submitted by the life event deadline.

Many of us can face challenges every day that can be stressful, overwhelming, and cause strong emotions. Visit our Stress, Mental Health, and Grief Services webpage for services that may be useful to you and/or your family.

The UNI Child Development Center (CDC) is a child care and instruction resource for the students, faculty, and staff of the University of Northern Iowa located in Cedar Falls, Iowa. The CDC is a part of the College of Education.

Finding Child Care

The university's EAP program is administered by Employee and Family Resources and provides several resources on how to find care, as well as how to choose care for your child/ren. Our EAP can provide a personalized search and referrals. Employees are able to work with a Work-Life Consultant that will conduct a search in the requested area for child care providers that meet the criteria requested. Employees will receive a personalized report based on the search results. For further assistance call EAP at 800-327-4692.

Post-Partum Support

While typically seen as a positive life event, having a child is a major life change. EAP services can assist you during this time in transition, including if you are experiencing baby blues or post-partum anxiety and/or depression. EAP also provides Work-Life services that can assist in a variety of new parent needs including locating lactation support, and providing a new parent toolkit and materials that can be mailed to your home address.

If you are needing child care outside of your home, Iowa CCR&R is a free local program that will work with families to find licensed child care. This program provides families with information to make informed choices and refers families to child care providers that are most likely to meet their specific needs.

The Parent Referral Hotline (855-244-5301) connects you with a specialist to offer referrals for in home child care or daycare centers.

You may also need to update your tax information. This can be done by logging into UNI Works and navigating to Menu > Benefits and Pay > Pay > Tax.

Annual Open Enrollment

If you do not make any changes during open enrollment your coverage selection will remain the same.

Qualifying Life Event

You may also enroll, waive, or change your coverage selection based on a qualifying life event.

UNI Works

UNI Works is designed to help you enroll, make changes, and view your current benefit elections, dependents and beneficiaries all in one location. When logging into UNI Works, select Benefits and Pay from the Main Menu.

1Q: If I am not currently covering anyone else on my health insurance, can I add them at this time?

1A: Having a baby allows you to make changes to your insurance plans as it is a qualified life event. The baby's coverage will start on the date of birth, anyone else being added to the plan will have their coverage start the first of the month that the baby is born.

2Q: What if I don’t have the baby’s birth certificate or Social Security Number (SSN), can I still submit my requests in UNI Works?

2A: Yes, however, we will not send any information to our insurance vendors until we have seen the birth certificate and have a SSN to submit.