| Initiating body: | |
|---|---|
| Contact: | Vice President and Provost 438-7018 or Payroll 438-7677 |
| Revised on: | 01/2002 |
Academic employees on a continuing appointment shall earn accumulative sick leave with full pay for protection against illness, injury or disability. Such leave shall be earned at the maximum rate of one work day (7.5 hours) for each month or a portion of a month of service, with no limit on the number of days that can be accumulated. This entitlement is without qualification because of fund source. If an appointment is less than full-time employment, then the earned sick leave time is calculated at a rate of 7.5 hours multiplied by the highest total percentage of employment during each month. (Example: employment for 12 months at one appointment of 50% and one appointment of 25% = 7.5 X .75 X 12 = 67.5 hours of accumulative sick leave earned.) Earned accumulative sick leave is calculated at the end of each month for that month.
A continuing academic employee on sick leave will continue to accrue sick leave while using time previously accumulated.
If an academic employee has benefits, an amount of sick leave equal to the number of days earned in the current contract period must be used before accessing nonaccumulative sick leave benefits. If the available accumulative sick leave benefits are less than the sick leave expected to be earned in the current contract period, nonaccumulative benefits are available upon expiration of all available accumulative sick leave.
Nontenure track faculty members who have worked full time for six consecutive major terms will accumulate sick leave from year to year for use when sick, but not be paid upon termination of employment.
In addition to the accumulative leave, academic employees on a continuing appointment are entitled to nonaccumulative sick leave of up to twenty work days in each benefit year including the first.
Noncontinuing academic employees (including nontenure-track faculty) receive up to a maximum of 20 days (150 hours) of nonaccumulative sick leave during a benefit year, but do not earn accumulative sick leave.
Nonaccumulative sick leave is calculated at a rate of 150 hours per benefit year multiplied by the highest percentage of appointment within the benefit year. Employees with appointments of 9 months or more will receive 150 hours multiplied by their percentage of appointment. Employees with an appointment of at least 4.5 months but less than 9 months are entitled to 75 hours multiplied by their percentage of employment. If the appointment is less than 4.5 months the employee does not receive nonaccumulative sick leave.
Academic employees on leave without pay do not receive nonaccumulative sick leave for the percent of their assignment on a no-pay status. Such employees can receive nonaccumulative sick leave for their percent of time on paid assignment in accordance with the criteria above.
Usage of nonaccumulative sick leave by an academic employee may be subject to FMLA. Contact the Benefits Section of the Office of Human Resources (438-2007) at the onset of usage for further information.
An employee may use sick leave when ill or injured or obtaining medical or dental consultation or treatment in the following manner: For the first contract year beginning after January 1, 1984, and each year thereafter, no nonaccumulative sick leave shall be used until the employee has used all accumulative sick leave expected to be earned in that contract year. For individuals employed prior to January, 1984, accumulative sick leave earned prior to January, 1984, shall be used first. However, the number of accumulative sick leave days required to be used in any year or contract period before the use of any nonaccumulative sick leave shall not exceed the number of days expected to be earned in the year or the current contract period.
An employee may also use accumulative sick leave for absence due to illness of parents, spouse, domestic partner, or children if the illness is such that the presence of the employee is required; such leave may also be used for illness of other family members living in the immediate household. Such use of sick leave for absences due to illness in the family shall be granted to the extent reasonably authorized by appropriate supervisory authority up to a total of twelve weeks in any year of service as allowed by the Family and Medical Leave Act.
The Board and the University reserve the right to require acceptable evidence of illness, injury, or disability before allowing any sick leave benefits. Any employee who is (or expects to be) absent from the employment shall notify the appropriate University supervisor immediately, and, in cases where the absence will be for more than three days, the employee shall notify the supervisor of the anticipated length of absence so that arrangements can be made for the employee's duties to be assumed during said absence. The Office of Human Resources is also to be notified when an employee is absent from the work place five or more days for other than vacation, approved leave, or is hospitalized for any length of time. Notification may be in the form of a memo or a telephone call.
Records of sick leave days accrued and of those taken shall be maintained by the University for faculty and administrative/professional employees. There is no maximum accrual of sick leave.
Earned accumulative sick leave is calculated at the end of each month. Sick leave used in the current month is deducted from the accumulated total the following month.
Usage of sick leave will be recorded on the Report of Benefit Usage card which is distributed to the employees through the departments on a monthly basis. Failure to complete this report will result in the individual's paycheck being held until the properly completed Report of Benefit Usage card is turned in to the Payroll Office.
The supervisor's signature on the Report of Benefit Usage card indicates approval of the employee's report of sick leave usage. The University reserves the right to require acceptable evidence of illness, injury, or disability before approving any sick leave benefits. The supervisor may require certification from the employee's physician that the employee is/was unable to perform his or her duties because of a medical condition.
When the employee exhausts all available benefits, he or she will be placed in a no-pay status for the remainder of the absence. All benefits (accumulative sick, nonaccumulative sick and vacation ) will normally be exhausted before the employee is placed in a no-pay status. If SURS disability is anticipated, the employee should check with the Benefits section of the Office of Human Resources.
An employee absent for 10 or more consecutive days is required to present to the Benefits Office a return to work authorization from an attending physician. Such notice should include the employee's name, date of release to return to work, physician's signature, and physical restrictions, if any. Failure to do so may delay the employee's next paycheck.
Usage equivalent to the current benefit year's expected accrual (10 or 12 days) is deducted in the following sequence base on availability:
After the first 10 (or 12) days have been utilized, additional usage within the benefit year will be appointed in the following sequence:
