Paid Sick Leave
Faculty members will receive 40 hours (5 workdays) of Paid Sick Leave per calendar year (January through December). Faculty must use Paid Sick Leave concurrently with FMLA leave, if applicable. This Paid Sick Leave may be used for absences due to the faculty member’s own illness, injury, medical care, treatment, diagnosis, or preventive medical care or due to a Family Member’s (as defined below) illness or injury, medical care, treatment, preventive medical care or diagnosis. Faculty members may also use Paid Sick Leave if they or a Family Member is a victim of domestic violence or a sex offense, if they need to care for a child whose school or place of care has been closed by order of a public official due to a public health emergency, or if the faculty member’s workplace is closed by order of a public official due to a public health emergency.
Absences of less than one full day are not deducted from a faculty member’s Paid Sick Leave allotment. As noted above, 40 hours (5 workdays) of Paid Sick Leave are allocated each January 1. A maximum of 80 hours (10 workdays) of Sick Leave will carry over from year to year. Paid Sick Leave is not paid out at the end of the faculty member’s employment.
For purposes of this policy, “Family Member” means a faculty member’s: child, legal guardian, ward, spouse, domestic partner, parent, spouse’s or domestic partner’s parent, sibling, grandparent, grandchild, or any other individual related by blood or whose close association with the employee is the equivalent of a family relationship. A child includes not only a biological relationship, but also a relationship resulting from an adoption, step-relationship, and/or foster care relationship, and a child to whom the employee stands in loco parentis under applicable law. A parent includes a biological parent, foster parent, stepparent, adoptive parent, legal guardian of an employee, or a person who stood in loco parentis when the employee was a minor child. Please note that this definition of “Family Member” does not apply to any other University policy, except where stated.
In addition to Paid Sick Leave, Faculty members receive 40 hours of Discretionary Paid Leave pursuant to the Discretionary Paid Leave and Vacation Policy for Faculty. Discretionary Paid Leave must be used concurrently with FMLA leave. If the Faculty member has available Paid Sick Leave that is applicable, the Faculty member’s Paid Sick Leave will be applied prior to available Discretionary Paid Leave days.
Short-Term Disability
If a personal illness or disability prevents a faculty member from performing essential University obligations, Short-Term Disability is a benefit provided by the University that ordinarily allows the faculty member to continue to receive full salary and benefits for up to 12 weeks. The faculty member must promptly make arrangements with the department chair, director, or dean to ensure that all work responsibilities are met for the current quarter. The faculty member must use available Paid Sick Leave and Discretionary Paid Leave concurrently with Short-Term Disability, and the time away from work while on Short-Term Disability shall also count as leave under the Family and Medical Leave Act, if applicable. As stated above, available Paid Sick Leave will be applied first followed by available Discretionary Paid Leave.
While a faculty member is on leave and using Short-Term Disability, they are not expected or required to work. The time on leave does not count toward the in-residence quarters that determine eligibility for an academic leave, nor does it restart the eligibility period for an academic leave.
Family Medical Leave Act Leave
Short-Term Disability and Sick Leaves count toward leave under the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), if applicable. Further information about the FMLA Policy is available on the Human Resources website.
Long-Term Disability Status
While faculty members are not required to participate in the University-sponsored Long-Term Disability (LTD) Plan, they are strongly encouraged to purchase the Optional Plan, which has several advantageous features compared to the Basic Plan, or at the very least the Basic Plan. (Contact the Benefits Office for more details.) If a faculty member’s inability to fulfill their essential University obligations due to their own illness or disability may extend beyond 12 weeks, and they have purchased LTD coverage, the faculty member should apply for LTD promptly as the application submission and review process typically takes up to eight (8) weeks. Faculty are eligible for LTD benefits as of the first day of the month after thirteen (13) consecutive weeks of disability. If the faculty member has promptly completed and submitted the LTD application, the University may continue to pay the faculty member’s full salary and benefits until the insurance carrier makes a determination on the application for LTD, up to an additional eight (8) weeks. This LTD period shall count as leave under the Family and Medical Leave Act, if applicable. Thereafter, if approved, the faculty member will receive LTD benefits from the LTD carrier, and salary payments will cease while the faculty member is on LTD.
Returning to Work
Once a faculty member is on LTD, they may resume their University position within two years of the first day of the short-term disability leave upon a finding by the Office of the Provost, supported by competent medical opinion, and upon recommendation of the chair and the dean or director to the Office of the Provost, that the faculty member is again able to fulfill satisfactorily their essential University obligations, with or without reasonable accommodations (if applicable and as provided by law). In certain situations, a trial or observation period may be necessary to determine whether the faculty member is able to fulfill these essential University obligations. If the faculty member has a term appointment that ends during the LTD period, the appointment will expire and employment will conclude at the end of the term, pursuant to Section 11.2 of the University Statutes, unless a reasonable accommodation is requested in advance of the expiration and approved by the Office of the Provost.
Lack of LTD Coverage, Failure to Apply for LTD, or Denial of LTD Benefits
If the faculty member does not have LTD coverage or has it but does not apply for it, the maximum paid leave for inability to perform essential University obligations due to illness or disability is thirteen (13) weeks from the first day of leave, and this leave shall count as leave under the Family and Medical Leave Act, if applicable. If the faculty member does not have LTD coverage, has it but does not apply for it, or applies but the insurance carrier denies coverage, they may apply for an unpaid Personal Leave of Absence for a period of up to one year from the first date of the short-term disability leave for the condition that rendered the faculty member unable to perform essential University obligations. If the faculty member remains unable to fulfill their essential University obligations after one year, the faculty member’s appointment at the University may be terminated. If the faculty member’s term appointment ends in less than one year, the unpaid Personal Leave of Absence will be coterminous with the remaining portion of the appointment term, and the appointment will expire and employment will conclude at the end of the term, pursuant to Section 11.2 of the University Statutes, unless a reasonable accommodation is requested in advance of the expiration and approved by the Office of the Provost.
Partial LTD
(Only Available to those with the Optional LTD Plan)
If a faculty member is partially disabled but still can perform some of their essential University obligations, the faculty member, with the chair and dean or with the director, will work with the Provost’s Office to determine which accommodations, if any, may be reasonable under the circumstances and whether partial LTD from the insurance carrier is an option for the faculty member.