Sick leave is to be used for absences from work when an employee becomes too ill to work or must be absent for valid sick-related reasons. Sick leave can be requested and approved for absences related to an employee's own illness or injury as well as medical appointments, and may also be used for absences related to care for a family member and as bereavement leave for the death of a family member.
Earning Paid Sick Leave
SPFPA employees earn paid sick leave on a biweekly basis as a percentage of regular hours paid. To earn sick leave, employees must be permanent, or, if temporary, must have worked at least 750 hours in the leave calendar year. The leave calendar year is defined as the first full pay period in January through the pay period that includes December 31. Temporary employees who meet the 750-hour threshold will be notified in writing at the time eligibility is met.
Sick leave is earned at a rate of 5 percent of regular hours paid biweekly, or 4.00 hours per pay period for 40-hour week/80 hours biweekly.
Using Paid Sick Leave
- Requests to use paid sick leave must be made through Employee Self-Service (ESS).
- Employees must have at least 30 calendar days of service before paid sick leave can be used.
- Employees with less than one year of service may only request to use sick leave that has been earned to date.
- Employees with more than one year of service may request and be approved to use sick leave that is expected to be earned in the current leave calendar year.
Absences for the Employee's Own Illness or InjurySick Leave
- A doctor's certificate is required for sick leave requests for three or more consecutive days. The doctor's certificate must be provided to the employee's supervisor prior to the supervisor approving the leave request, and then forwarded to the Office of Human Resources to file in the employee's confidential medical file.
- If the employee's absence due to illness or injury is expected to last two or more weeks, the absences must be approved under the FMLA Leave policy (Sick, Family, and Parental (SPF)).
Absences for a Family Member's Illness or InjurySick Family Leave
- Up to five days of an employee's sick leave per leave calendar year may be used for absences to care for a qualifying family member. If additional leave is needed beyond five days, the employee's absences must be approved under the Sick, Family, and Parental (SPF) Absence Policy.
- For sick leave requests to care for an immediate family member, an immediate family member is defined as the following persons: spouse, child, stepchild, foster child, parent, brother, or sister of the employee.
Absences for the Death of a Family MemberSick Bereavement Leave
- Up to five days of sick leave may also be used as bereavement leave for absences related to the death of an immediate family member, dependent upon the family member's relationship to the employee.
- Up to five days of sick leave may be used for the death of a spouse, parent, step-parent, child, or stepchild.
- Up to three days of sick leave may be used for the death of a brother, sister, step-sister, step-brother, grandparent, step-grandparent, grandchild, step-grandchild, son-in-law, daughter-in-law, brother-in-law, sister-in-law, parent-in-law, grandparent-in-law, aunt uncle, foster child, or any relative residing in the employee's household. For absences that exceed the limits above, an employee may request to use annual, personal, or unpaid leave subject to management's approval.
Carry-Over and Payout of Paid Sick Leave
- Unused sick leave may be carried over from one leave calendar year to the next up to a maximum of 300 days.
- A portion of unused sick leave is only payable upon an employee's retirement from the university and only if certain age and service criteria are met. Employees who resign from employment or are otherwise separated are not eligible to receive a payout for unused sick leave.
Additional Information on Paid Sick Leave
- Additional information on sick leave is outlined in the SPFPA Collective Bargaining Agreement, Article 13: Sick Leave and Bereavement Leave; Article 16: Leaves of Absence Without Pay, and the Sick, Family, and Parental (SPF) Absence Policy.