Leave of Absence

Take Some Time to Recharge Your Stamina

If there comes a time when you need to take a leave of absence, it is important to know your rights.

Family Medical Leave Act

The Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) provides employees with up to 12 weeks of unpaid, job-protected leave per year. FMLA helps employees balance their work and family responsibilities by allowing them to take reasonable unpaid leave for certain family and medical reasons.

These reasons include:

• The birth and care of the newborn child of an employee
• Placement with the employee of a child for adoption or foster care
• To care for an immediate family member (i.e., spouse, child, or parent) with a serious health condition
• To take medical leave when the employee is unable to work because of a serious health condition

Employees are eligible for leave if they have worked for their employer at least 12 months and at least 1,250 hours over the past 12 months.

Primary Parental Leave

If you are approved for Family Medical Leave (FML), you are eligible to receive paid parental leave at your current hourly rate as an Aristocrat employee. The maximum entitlement is twelve (12) weeks of unbroken paid leave, comprising any Short-Term Disability payment plus payments from Aristocrat. Employees must be the Primary Care Giver and have been continuously employed with Aristocrat for at least fifty-two (52) weeks prior to the time of commencing leave.

Secondary Parental Leave

If the spouse of an Aristocrat employee is having a child, the employee will be eligible for 10 days of continuous paid parental leave. This leave must be taken within one calendar year of the time of birth of the child or adoption placement date and the employee must:

• Have been continuously employed with Aristocrat for at least 52 weeks prior to the proposed date of leave.
• Comply with the procedures outlined within the Paid Parental Leave policy.

Adoption and Surrogacy Reimbursement Program

Building your family through adoption or surrogacy is a major decision, and we are excited to assist aspiring parents in this monumental journey. The Aristocrat Adoption and Surrogacy Assistance Program helps to cover expenses associated with adopting a child 18 years or younger or when using a surrogate to assist in carrying and giving birth to your child.

The program reimburses up to $15,000 per child. To qualify, you must be a full-time employee who has worked at Aristocrat for at least 12 consecutive months.

How to Apply for a Leave of Absence

As soon as you know you will a need a leave of absence, contact the Benefits team right away at atus.benefits@aristocrat.com. Then to apply for a leave of absence, you will need to contact our leave administrator, AbsencePro.

You can call toll-free at (877) 365-2666 (TDD (800) 697-0353) and a representative will walk you through the process. Or you can create a new leave request online at AbsencePro.

For more information regarding the process, please see the “AbsencePro Intake Brochure” in the sidebar.