Staff Sick Leave Policy

Definitions:

Eligible Employee
All regular full and part time staff who are regularly scheduled to work at least 1,000 hours per year (base schedule is at least 1,000 hours or more).

Immediate Family
For purposes of this policy, immediate family is defined as the employee’s children, parent, or spouse

Policy:

Eligible employees accrue one day of sick leave for each month of continuous employment up to a maximum of 65 work days. 

Calculation of Sick Leave Time Accrued: 

Eligible employees accrue sick leave every pay-period as long as they are in a paid status, (e.g. regular, vacation, sick leave, holiday) and they have not already reached their maximum accrual.

Hourly employees will earn sick leave based on the number of hours paid each pay period including vacation, sick, holiday, bereavement leave, etc.

New exempt employees who work for at least one day of the month will receive their full accrual for that month. Exempt employees who are leaving the University, will not accrue time for their last month unless they work the full month.

Employees on unpaid leave of absence do not accrue sick leave.

Approved Use of Sick Leave: 

Sick leave may be used for the following purposes:

• An employee's own illness or temporary disability
• Sickness or temporary disability of a member of an employee's immediate family
• Medical or dental appointments for the employee or their immediate family. If appointments are reasonably foreseeable, this time should be approved by the employee's supervisor in
• If an employee is absent due to a Worker's Compensation injury or accident, sick leave, if available will be used for the first seven days of leave
• Employees must take eligible paid time off (sick, vacation,) prior to going on leave without pay

An employee who will be absent from work because of illness must

• Notify their supervisor prior to the start of the employee's assigned shift (some departments require a four-hour advance notification)
• Follow all other departmental rules governing the use of sick leave

Return to Work:

A supervisor may require medical evidence for any time claimed as sick leave. An employee whose physical condition from any surgery or illness places limitations on their ability to work, or who may present a health risk for themselves must have a written release from their physician before returning to work.

Employees who exhaust all of their sick leave and remain out of work due to their medical condition or medical condition of their immediate family member, must use remaining vacation accrual before the employee goes on unpaid leave.

If an employee is out of work for three days or more due to a serious health condition for themselves or an immediate family member, they may be eligible for job protected leave under the Family Medical Leave Act. Employees in this situation should contact New York Life at 1-888-842-4462 to determine eligibility. 

Employees who are out of work for more than ten days due to their own medical condition may be eligible for employer paid short term disability and should contact New York Life at 1-888-842-4462 to determine eligibility. Additional information may be found on the Short Term Disability webpage.

Termination: 
Employees who terminate University employment will not be paid for unused sick days.

View the Staff Sick Leave Policy.