D.6 Sick Time Policy‌

Download as PDF
Date

 

  1. Faculty and Administrative Staff Members
    1. Sick Time. Sick time with pay shall be granted to eligible members of the academic and administrative staff on the basis of 12 working days per fiscal year. Sick leave is accrued on a monthly basis. Regular employees who are normally scheduled to work fewer than 37.5 hours per week will accrue sick time on a pro-rated basis. Members of the faculty and administrators on academic year nine- or ten-month assignments are eligible for sick time with pay only during the appointment period.

      It is the responsibility of employees to report all absences due to illness on the Monthly Payroll Absence Report. Each pay period the available sick time accumulation is shown in the Leave Balances section of the Employee Self Service under MyUSI. Sick time is not intended as earned time off with pay and will not be granted except for bona fide illness. The University may require appropriate medical evidence at reasonable intervals as confirmation of illness.

      Sick time may be used in accordance with the foregoing policy for illness, appointments with medical providers, or medically determined inability to work.

    2. Medical Leaves of Absence. Employees who are absent from work due to illness or disability for more than five consecutive working days will be placed on a Medical Leave of Absence. The employee must submit a medical release from a physician to the Human Resources Department prior to returning to work. However, the University reserves the right to request a physical release to return to work for absences of less than (5) five days. Additionally, for absences qualifying for coverage under the Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA), a leave of absence form will be requested prior to the leave. Refer to FMLA, Section D.7, Leaves of Absence Policy, for additional information.

      The University grants medical leaves of absence in increments of up to 30 calendar days, generally not to exceed a total of 90 calendar days. Please refer to Section D.7, Leaves of Absence Policy, for information regarding absences qualifying for coverage.

      Sick time with pay may be used during any applicable Short-Term and Long-Term Disability income benefits waiting period. However, only a limited portion of sick time with pay, as required by the insurer, may be used during the period of Short-Term Disability payments (if any). Sick time with pay ends at commencement of Long-Term Disability benefit payments (if any).

    3. Sick Time Use for Family Illness. Effective July 1, 2019, a maximum of 20 days of an employee's accumulated sick time may be taken each fiscal year for illness of a covered family member. For the purpose of this Sick Time Policy, covered family members include spouse or domestic partner, children, parents, siblings, relatives who live with the employee, and relative (in- laws) of the same degree of the spouse/domestic partner who are dependent on the employee for emergency care. As of September 1, 2013, covered family members also include grandchildren and grandparents. The preceding relationships include step, adoptive and foster relationships. Such sick time will be designated by the employee as "family sick" on the time report.
    4. Medical and Dental Appointments. Medical and dental appointments for an employee or immediate family member should be scheduled outside normal working hours. If this is impractical or impossible, appointments scheduled during regular working hours with prior approval of the department head will be charged to available sick time.
    5. Unused Accumulated Sick Time: Faculty and administrative staff are not eligible to receive payment of their unused, accumulated sick time at termination, retirement or death.
  2. Support Staff Members
    1. Sick Time. Sick time with pay shall be granted to eligible support employees on the basis of 12 working days per fiscal year. Regular employees who are normally scheduled to work fewer than 37.5 hours per week will accrue sick time on a pro-rated basis. Sick time will only accrue based on hours in regular pay status. Sick time will not be claimed during the probationary period; however, sick time will be earned and accumulated during probation to be available for use after successful completion of the probationary period.

      Employees must report all staff absences due to illness on the Bi-weekly/Hourly Time Report. Each pay period the available sick time accumulation is shown in the Leave Balances section of Employee Self Service under MyUSI. Sick time is not intended as earned time off with pay and will not be granted except for bona fide illness. The University may require appropriate medical evidence as confirmation of illness. Sick time may be used in accordance with the foregoing policy for illness, appointments with medical providers, or medically determined inability to work.

    2. Medical Leaves of Absence. Employees who are absent from work due to illness or disability for more than five consecutive working days will be placed on a Medical Leave of Absence. The employee must submit a medical release from a physician to the Human Resources Department prior to returning to work. However, the University reserves the right to request a physical release to return to work for absences of less than (5) five days. Additionally, for absences qualifying for coverage under the Family and Medical Leave Act, a leave of absence form will be requested prior to the leave. Refer to Section D.7, Leaves of Absence Policy, for additional information.

      The University grants medical leaves of absence in increments of up to 30 calendar days, generally not to exceed a total of 90 calendar days. Please refer to Section D.7, Leaves of Absence Policy, for information regarding absences qualifying for coverage.

      Sick time with pay may be used during any applicable Short-Term and Long-Term Disability income benefits waiting period. However, only a limited portion of sick time with pay, as required by the insurer, may be used during the period of Short-Term Disability payments (if any). Sick time with pay ends at commencement of Long-Term Disability benefit payments (if any).

    3. Sick Time Use for Family Illness. Effective July 1, 2019, a maximum of 20 days of an employee's accumulated sick time may be taken each fiscal year for illness of a covered family member. For the purpose of this Sick Time Policy, covered family members include spouse or domestic partner, children, parents, siblings, relatives who live with the employee, and relative (in-laws) of the same degree of the spouse/domestic partner who are dependent on the employee for emergency care. As of September 1, 2013, covered family members also include grandchildren and grandparents. The preceding relationships include step, adoptive and foster relationships. Such sick time will be designated by the employee as "family sick" on the Bi-weekly/Hourly Time Report.
    4. Medical and Dental Appointments. Medical and dental appointments for an employee or immediate family member should be scheduled outside normal working hours. If this is impractical or impossible, appointments scheduled during regular working hours with prior approval of the department head will be charged to available sick time.
    5. Unused Accumulated Sick Time: Eligible support employees, who retire from the University with ten or more years of service under Regular Retirement or Rule of 85 are eligible for payment of one-half of their unused, accumulated sick time, not to exceed 60 days with pay, effective October 1, 2010. Prior to October 1, 2010, the maximum payment was 45 days.

      If an eligible support employee dies while actively employed, regardless of length of service, one- half of all unused, accumulated sick time up to a maximum of 60 days will be paid to the appropriate beneficiary(ies). Prior to October 1, 2010, the maximum payment was 45 days.

      Accumulated sick time will not be paid upon termination from the University except under circumstances described above.