Purpose

Sick leave is intended to provide continued income when the employee is unable to work because of legitimate illness or personal injury, or the employee's household is quarantined due to a contagious disease.

Eligibility

All employees in regular positions are eligible to accrue sick leave after the completion of one (1) calendar month of employment.

Accrual Rates

Executive, Administrative/Managerial, Professional Staff

Executive, Administrative/Managerial and Professional Staff accrue Sick Leave at the rate of 8.75 hours per month, for a total of 15 days per year.

Regular Staff

Regular Staff accrue paid sick leave at different rates depending upon the number of hours in their regular work week, as follows:

Teaching Faculty

Teaching Faculty accrue sick leave at the rate of 8.4 hours per month for the ten month academic year, for a total of 12 working days per academic year.

Maximum Accumulation

Regular employees may carry over a maximum of 150 days of sick leave from one fiscal year to another.

Executive, Administrative/Managerial, Professional and Teaching Faculty are permitted to carry over one hundred and twenty (120) work days of sick leave from one fiscal year to the next.

Any hours over the maximum number of sick leave days permitted for carry-over, will be forfeited at the end of the fiscal year (September 30).

Service Credit for Sick and Annual Leave

Those employees participating in the Government Employees' Retirement System (GERS) may bank the leave that would otherwise be forfeited at the beginning of the new fiscal year. Such leave may not be utilized while the employee is actively working, but may be used toward service credit upon retirement, according to the terms and conditions set forth by GERS.

Utilization of Leave

Employees may utilize their accrued Sick Leave following the successful completion of their probationary period. Sick leave may be used only for personal illness, injury, medical or dental appointments, or for bereavement purposes in accordance with the Bereavement Leave Policy [Section ].

Application/Approval of Leave

Where possible, such as for scheduled doctor's visits, employees are expected to request sick leave in advance.

Employees who are unable to report to work because of illness or injury are required to call their supervisor or department head within one hour from the time their scheduled shift begins. Personnel working in essential service areas may be required to report their absences prior to the beginning of their scheduled shift according to departmental policy.

Physician's Certificates

When an employee is away from work for three or more consecutive days due to illness, a physician's certificate is required to document that illness. The certificate must include the specific date that the employee may return to work. Physician's certificates may be required in other instances, such as suspected abuse of sick leave. The University reserves the right to require an employee to get a second medical opinion at the University's expense. [See Section ]

Employees who fail to present a physician's certificate upon request will have his or her absences charged to Leave Without Pay.

Abuse of Sick Leave

Misuse and abuse of sick leave is an infraction of the University's regulations and is subject to disciplinary action, including suspension and termination.

Attendance patterns which indicate possible abuse of sick leave, such as frequent two day absences, or absences on Mondays and Fridays are subject to close scrutiny by supervisory staff. In such cases employees may be required to produce a physician's certification to substantiate such leave, regardless of the duration, when asked to do so.

Under no circumstances may an employee use sick leave for vacation or personal leave purposes.

Sick Leave During Vacation

When an employee becomes sick or is injured during his/her vacation or personal leave, that period of illness may be charged against sick leave and not annual or compensatory leave upon presentation of proper documentation of the illness.

Extended Sick Leave

Any consecutive period of sick leave which spans more than two work weeks will be considered extended sick leave. Employees with illnesses or injuries which cause them to be absent for more than two weeks must provide a physician's certificate to their department head with the following information:

1. The general nature of their illness or injury;
   
2. The prognosis for their recovery;
   
3. The estimated date upon which they may return to work.

Any changes in the employees condition which may impact upon their expected date of return should be documented and presented immediately.

Copies of all documents concerning requests for extended leave, including physician's statements must be forwarded to the Human Resources Office by the Department Head immediately.

Absences for extended illnesses wherein the employee has exhausted his or her accrued sick leave, may be charged against accrued annual leave or compensatory time. When other leave sources are exhausted, the employee may be granted leave without pay.

Coordination with Family Medical Leave

Family Medical Leave may be taken in lieu of Sick Leave for up to twelve (12) weeks based on the terms and conditions outlined in that policy. [Section ]. The amount of time taken under the FMLA policy will be deducted from the total amount of leave for which the employee is eligible.