New Baby and Leave of Absence

If you are a Full-Time (female) employee and you are expecting a baby, the City provides Short Term Disability (STD) benefit at no cost.  STD pays a portion of your earnings while you are out for maternity leave for a period of 6 weeks for normal delivery and up to 8 weeks for cesarean with doctor-provided medical necessity.  If you experience complications during pregnancy either before or after, you may be eligible for a longer period of STD pay.   For more information about Short Term benefits, visit the City’s Income Replacement page.

Example in table below is of a mother taking a leave of absence for the birth of her child. This is an example of the sick time she uses during the 30-day STD waiting period to supplement her pay. It shows how she adjusts her sick time once STD waiting period ends. It then also shows when STD pay ends for a normal 6-week delivery. 

New Baby or New Adoption (Mother or/and Father (employee))

You are eligible for up to 12-weeks of unpaid leave (Total) for a combination of maternity & baby bonding leave.  You can utilize sick/vacation/comp time during your maternity & baby bonding period.  Depending on your eligibility, this leave may be designated as either FMLA and/or City Leave of Absence.

Bonding leave may be taken continuously or on an intermittent basis.  Intermittent leave must be taken in no less than 1-week increments. 

If both mother & father work for City of Frisco, their leave of absence claims for the new baby or new adoption is a combined total time of 12-weeks leave if each has available FMLA / CLOA balances.

 To set up a Leave of Absence claim, contact The Standard is 800-715-2308. View more information on setting up a leave of absence.  Leave may be initiated 30 days prior to expected leave date.

The Standard will determine the leave that you are eligible for (FMLA, City LOA, etc.) See both FMLA and City LOA pages for details on eligibility and duration of each Leave of Absence type.

The leave will not be approved until the Standard until receives a copy of supporting documentation. Supporting documentation for your baby bonding or adoption claim is the Verification of Birth facts from the hospital or a copy of the child’s Birth Certificate or adoption confirmation. The Verification of Birth Facts is a document the hospital provides you with your child’s legal name, gender, and date of birth. Birth Certificates are issued by the County and may take a couple of weeks to come through the mail after the birth of your child.

Healthy Pregnancy Healthy Baby Program (HPHB) - $300 HRA benefit:

Cigna offers a Healthy Pregnancy Healthy Baby Program. Participation is optional in the program; however, the mother-to-be must be enrolled on one of the City’s medical plans.  Cigna will award up to $300 towards the Health Reimbursement Account (HRA) for participation and completion of the HPHB program. You can earn $150 HRA if you enroll by the end of your first or second trimester. You can also earn another $150 HRA if you complete the post-partum assessment. You can find more information about this program here: Healthy Pregnancy Healthy Baby - Cigna

Enrolling the Baby or newly adopted child on City Insurance:

Having a baby or a new adoption is considered a Qualifying Life Event with the City’s Plans. Employees have 31 days from the day their child is born or confirmation of adoption to notify the benefits team ASAP. Do not wait until you have all the supporting documentation. If we are notified outside of the 31 days, then you will have to wait until the next Open Enrollment period or when you experience another qualifying life event to make changes to your benefits.  When you enroll your new baby or adopted child, the insurance is effective on the new baby’s the date of birth or if adoption the first of the month following the adoption date.

1. To notify our team, please email benefits@friscotexas.gov 
2. Supporting documentation: We will need a copy of the Verification of Birth Facts or the Birth Certificate. You can email a copy of documentation to benefits@friscotexas.gov or fax a copy to our secure fax at 972-292-5229. 
3. Once we receive notice, we will reach out to you about next steps in getting your benefit changes submitted. We will open a Life Event enrollment window in Employee Self Service (ESS) so you can login and submit your benefit changes online. Benefit changes are effective from the date the child is born forward.

The sooner you provide the information means the insurance carriers will receive enrollment timely and your new deductions if applicable will begin timely. You do not have to wait until you have all your documentation. Contact our team and we will work with you to get your child added to your Plans. A later notice will result in retro deductions for payroll and delays with Insurance carriers. 

Once the Social Security Administration provides you with record of your newborn’s social security number, we will also need this record. You can contact us, or you can also update this information in ESS online. You will need to login, click on “Personal Information”, click on the “Dependent” section and enter in your dependent’s information. Use dashes when entering social security number.

Medical Benefit Costs

Medical cost is based on the plan you are enrolled and the tier in which you are enrolled.  If adding a baby changes your coverage tier you will see a cost increase in your paycheck for adding the new baby.  Refer to the Benefits Enrollment Guide located  on our main benefits page to review the cost of adding a new baby: www.friscotexas.gov/Benefits

Exhaust All Paid-Time Accruals:

If you exhaust all accrued paid time before returning to work, you may be eligible to receive Donations. For more information regarding donations, refer to the City’s Donation of Leave (PDF) Policy and reach out to the City’s Benefits team at benefits@friscotexas.gov.

When you no longer receive a paycheck due to exhausting all accrued paid time, you will be responsible for paying your share of benefit deductions directly to the City and you no longer accrue vacation and sick time.   If you reach this point, you will receive a letter indicating the monthly costs, where to send payment, and payment deadline.