Regular full-time employees are granted sick leave for protection in time of illness or incapacitation because of injury or other physical condition. Sick leave is a form of insurance - when an employee or an eligible family member is sick or otherwise incapacitated benefits can be drawn upon to offset the loss of wages.
Sick leave is a privilege and must be requested by the employee and approved by the supervisor in each instance. Evidence of illness from a physician may be required by the supervisor before sick leave is authorized. Throughout the period of absence, employees must keep the supervisor or department head informed of their or eligible family member’s physical condition and their estimated date of return. Employees who do not comply with these provisions may have their absence charged to leave without pay or have other disciplinary action taken against them.
The University realizes the importance of preventive health care and the fact that most regularly scheduled visits to the dentist, physician, or optometrist occur within normal working hours. Accordingly, sick leave may be taken for these purposes. Employees are expected to inform their supervisors well in advance of such scheduled visits and may be required to provide documentation of the appointment.
Regular full-time employees earn nine days sick leave per year accrued at the rate of 2.76 hours per pay period.
For the purpose of this policy, eligible family members are defined as: spouse, sponsored dependent, parent, stepparent, grandparent, sibling, biological child, stepchild, adopted child or foster child of the staff member. Sick leave may be used for those family members in the following circumstances:
- The care of an eligible family member who is ill or injured.
- Accompanying an eligible family member to a scheduled medical or dental procedure or checkup.
- Attending to an eligible family member who is hospitalized.
Staff may not use sick leave for absences related to the care of family members not listed above; however, staff may request time off as vacation or personal leave.
If the requested leave is due to a serious medical condition and an extended period of absence is needed, the employee may qualify for a leave of absence under the Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA). Please refer to the FMLA leave section of the Staff Handbook and note that the definition of FMLA-eligible family members may differ from that of this section. Please contact Human Resources for more information.
