Sick/Medical Leave

Overview

Outline details around policies regarding compensation for time away from work due to illness, injury, or other medical reasons.

Definitions

Sick time: number of hours of paid time awarded to an employee to be used for time away from work due to medical needs.

Medical leave: time away from work due to a personal medical need or condition. Typically certified by a treating physician or professional.

Fiscal year: defined as July 1 – June 30 for exempt employees.  For non-exempt employees, the fiscal year is determined by how the pay periods fall but are roughly in the same time frame.

Immediate family member: include spouse/partner, child/stepchildren, parents, and siblings.  Generally, members of your household are considered immediate family members.

Responsibilities

Employee: to use awarded sick time for medical time away from work.  The employee is responsible to notify their supervisor and responsibly use the time awarded for each fiscal year.

Supervisor: responsible for monitoring time worked and time away from work for employees they supervise and to consistently apply the policies

Talent, Equity and Engagement Office: calculates sick leave benefits for employees as they are hired and if transitions take place.  Annually manages the awarding of sick time for employees and answers questions on the application of this policy.

Policy Details

It is the policy of Central College to provide compensation for eligible exempt and non-exempt employees for absences from work due to sick/medical leave in accordance with the guidelines established below.

1.Eligibility:

  1. Employees who are considered .50 FTE or above are eligible for paid sick/medical leave each year.
  2. Exception is made for staff in academic affairs that work 20 hours per week through the academic year. They are considered eligible for vacation and their totals are based on actual FTE hours worked (.42 in most cases).
  3. Employees under .50 FTE, temporary, flex, faculty, or an intern are not eligible for paid sick/medical leave.

2. Availability of hours:

  1. Eligible employees will have up to 80 hours of sick/medical leave for use at the beginning of each fiscal year.
    1. Actual hours awarded to employees are calculated using their FTE level (ie, .83 FTE will be awarded 67 hours.) Calculations will be rounded.
    2. New employees will receive a prorated number of hours of sick/medical leave based on the remainder of the year.
    3. Unused hours are not carried over into the following fiscal year.

3. Sick/medical leave is intended to be used for the following reasons:

  1. Personal illness
  2. Illness of an immediate family member
  3. Personal medical appointments or procedures or that of an immediate family member.
  4. Waiting period for short-term disability or work-related injury
  5. Maternity leave
  6. Extended bereavement leave with approval of the Vice President in collaboration with the Chief Talent Equity and Engagement Officer.

4. Sick/medical leave is not to be used for the following reasons:

  1. Personal business
  2. Vacation
  3. To fill in when vacation time is exhausted

5. Usage of sick/medical leave

  1. In the event of sick/medical leave, the employee must contact their supervisor as soon as possible (but no later than one hour after their scheduled start time) to notify them of the absence.
  2. After 3 days of sick/medical leave, a physician’s statement may be required prior to the employee being allowed to return to work, depending on the reason for the absence.
  3. Sick/medical leave will not be paid for absences covered by workers comp or short-term disability.
  4. Sick/medical leave hours unused will not be paid upon separation of employment.
  5. Once an employee as used their allotted sick leave, they will be required to use vacation time for additional absences.

6. For extended time off related to Family Medical Leave (FML), short-term disability (STD), or other leaves, refer to the corresponding policy outlining those details or contact the Talent Equity and Engagement Office.

 

Last Revision Date: 4/10/2024

Policy Owner: Talent, Equity and Engagement Office