Sick Leave

Sick Leave Procedure

1. GENERAL

Regular employees are eligible to apply for sick leave with pay, without pay, sick leave pool hours, Family and Medical Leave, and Parental Leave subject to the restrictions listed here and in System Regulation 31.03.02 . Regular employee is defined as budgeted by name for 50 percent or more time for at least four and one-half months, excluding students holding positions for which student status is a requirement for employment.

2.GRANTING SICK LEAVE

Employees should normally be granted sick leave when it is requested for a qualifying reason. If medical certification is required but not provided, the time off should be reclassified as vacation, compensatory time or leave without pay. Employees are obligated to complete a Report of Leave Requested/Taken Form each month.

In no case may an employee be granted paid leave time that he/she has not yet earned. Employees needing more sick leave than has been accrued, may request vacation time, compensatory time, sick leave pool, or leave without pay.

3.NOTIFICATION OF ABSENCE

Supervisors should set and communicate rules regarding notification of need for sick leave. Generally, employees should be encouraged to request sick leave as far in advance as possible for a planned need, such as a doctor’s appointment or scheduling surgery. For unexpected needs, employees should call (or have someone call on their behalf) before the workday begins or shortly after the beginning of the workday. Unless the employee knows and communicates in advance the numbers of days to be missed, a call should be made each day reporting their status and their expected return date.

4. USING SICK LEAVE
 

A. Faculty Members

Faculty members who work at least 50% time, are required to use their earned sick leave when they are absent for a qualifying reason during normal workday for university employees. Faculty must also use sick leave when they miss time for a qualifying reason on a day when classes are not in session or when the faculty member has no classes scheduled if the day is a regular work day for university employees and, they are under a semester contract.

B. Care for a Sick Relative

For relatives outside the household, except for an employee’s minor child, sick leave may only be used for "the time necessary to provide care and assistance to a child, spouse or parent of the employee who needs such care and assistance as a direct result of a documented medical condition". State law does not define "care and assistance". Generally, simply visiting a sick relative in the hospital or at home does not qualify for sick leave.

C. Illness While on Vacation

If an employee becomes ill while on vacation, the days the employee is ill should be reclassified as sick leave. Generally, no doctor’s statement will be required if the period reclassified is three consecutive days or less. Reclassification of more than three days requires a doctor’s statement.

D. Illness on a Declared Holiday

If an employee is ill on a holiday declared by the governor, that day should remain holiday pay.

E. Sick Leave for New Parents

A new mother may use sick leave for the amount of time allotted by her physician. Six weeks is the most common period for this recovery. A new father may use sick leave only for the time his wife needs care due to recovery from childbirth. This period is commonly only one or two days. A physician’s statement will be required to grant a father more than three days to care for his wife following childbirth. Either parent may use sick leave to care for their child, including a newborn, who is ill or injured. Sick leave may be used for adoption only if the child requires care due to illness or injury. Employees may be eligible for Family and Medical Leave or Parental Leave in the event of a birth or adoption. See System Regulation 31.03.05 for more information).

F. Parent/Teacher Conferences

An employee may use up to eight hours of sick leave per calendar year to attend parent-teacher conferences regarding their pre-kindergarten to 12th grade children.
 

Each regular employee must complete a Report of Leave Requested/Taken Form each month regardless of whether or not leave is taken. This form may be obtained from the Department Head office or the Department of Human Resources. The completed form should be routed through the appropriate administrative channels up to the department head for approval. If the employee is unable to submit the requested forms, the employee’s supervisor may do so on the employee’s behalf. Forms are due to the Department of Human Resources for recording by the 10th calendar day of the following month.

The Department of Human Resources sends each employee a monthly Employee Leave Information Report  which summarizes all leave taken and accrued through the previous month for the fiscal year. A summary report is also sent to department heads listing all employees within the department and their accrued/taken leave.

The Department of Human Resources will keep a record of sick leave with and/or without pay for each employee. Such records will include the physician’s statement and the number of approved sick leave hours applicable to family and medical leave or parental leave. (For more information see System Regulation 31.03.05, Family and Medical Leave).

Sick leave records must, by law, be maintained and available for public inspection. The Department of Human Resources ensures and certifies that an employee’s official leave records reflect sick leave accrued or sick leave taken.

In the event of sick leave without pay, the Department of Human Resources will forward the request to Payroll to be processed in the monthly payroll.

Employees who miss more than three consecutive days of work must provide a physician’statement indicating the general cause and duration of the condition requiring sick leave. This statement should be provided on the fourth day of absence. However reasonable time may be granted to obtain and provide the statement. Department heads may require documentation for absences of three or fewer days. If the statement does not contain adequate information to justify the absence or does not specify the duration of the need for leave, supervisors may ask employees to request an additional statement from the physician that includes the missing information. A doctor’s statement or any statement the employee provides to justify a shorter absence does not need to contain a diagnosis of the specific condition.

OFFICE OF RESPONSIBILTY

Department of Human Resources