The Benefits Review Subcommittee, comprised of members from the various employee constituent groups throughout campus, recommended this past spring to the Budget Review Committee several employee leave benefit enhancements. These enhancements have been approved by the president and the Board of Regents and become effective July 1. The enhancements include:

• a Medical Travel Pay benefit, which offers paid travel hours for healthcare appointments outside of the Cape Girardeau city limits. This new benefit offers greater flexibility to employees in obtaining quality, affordable healthcare for themselves and immediate family members;
• expanding eligibility for non-traditional families to be able to use Family Verified Paid Sick Leave benefits for adoption or placement of a child;
• increasing the Paid Parental Leave benefit from 80 hours to 160 hours while eliminating the previous requirement of a shared benefit if both parents are University employees; and
• expanding eligibility for non-traditional families to be able to use Paid Parental leave benefits for adoption and bonding time.

These benefit enhancements can be accessed online in the Business Policy and Procedures Manual, section 03-18 Leaves. Questions concerning these leave benefits can be directed to Human Resources at (573) 651-2206.