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Sick Leave with Pay

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POLICY

Aurora University provides paid sick leave as a benefit to regular full time and regular part time employees in order to minimize the effects of potential economic loss sustained by an employee unable to work because of illness or injury.

FORMS/RELATED POLICIES

WevAdvisor WebTime Entry (non-exempt)
Vacation/Sick Leave Report (exempt)
106 Americans with Disabilities Act/Reasonable Accommodations Process (ADA)
337 Leave of Absence: Personal 
339 Leave of Absence: Family and Medical Leave (FMLA) and Servicemembers Leave

All absences related to contagious diseases, whether personally contracted or exposed to, must be reported to the Wellness Director/RN.

PROCEDURE

1. Accumulation of Paid Sick Leave
   1. Non-exempt staff: A regular non-exempt employee working a minimum of 1,040 hours per year accumulates paid sick leave based on hours paid during the pay period. The employee accumulates .0452 hours of sick leave for each hour paid.
      1. Sick leave may be accumulated up to a maximum of 90 days (720 hours).
      2. Unused accumulated sick leave is not paid out upon termination of employment nor upon retirement.
      3. Medical certification may be requested for leaves over three calendar days, recurring time off indicating a pattern of absence, or in other situations as deemed necessary by the supervisor and Human Resources.
   2. Exempt Staff including Faculty
      1. Regular exempt employees working half time or more, including faculty, also are eligible for paid sick leave.
      2. Medical certification may be requested for leaves over three calendar days, recurring time off indicating a pattern of absence, or in other situations as deemed necessary by the supervisor and Human Resources.
      3. Exempt employees who have been with the university under two years may have a maximum of 30 days paid in a given anniversary year.
      4. Exempt employees who have reached their second anniversary may have up to the full elimination period for long term disability covered as paid time in the event of an extended personal illness.

      5.  

2. Use of Paid Sick Leave 
   Employees may use accumulated paid sick leave for absence for the following reasons: 
   
   1. The employee’s own illness/disability.
   2. The employee’s own appointments with a health practitioner, when such appointments can only be arranged during working hours.
   3. Short-term disability or health practitioner appointments for immediate family (spouse/partner, dependent children, and parents).
   4. All sick leave must be reported on WebTime Entry/Vacation and Sick Leave Report.

   5.  

3. Scheduled/Unscheduled Sick Leave 
   The abuse of sick time may have consequences, as it takes time away from the workplace and places additional burden on co-workers. Occurrences of absenteeism throughout the year must be tracked and monitored by supervisors. Used sick time falls into two categories:
   
   1. Scheduled Sick Time: When the supervisor is notified at least 24 hours in advance of a scheduled appointment or procedure for the employee and/or family member, the time is considered scheduled sick time. The supervisor may deny the time off if departmental needs do not permit an absence on that day.
   2. Unscheduled Sick Time: Last minute use of sick time places a burden on the department and the university. Abuse of unscheduled sick time may lead to disciplinary action up to and including termination. 
      
      NOTE: Intermittent or full leave covered by the FMLA and/or the ADA will not count as unscheduled leave for purposes of this section. Please see policies listed above, and sections V.A and V.C below.

   3.  

4. Notification 
   It is the responsibility of the employee who is absent for any reason to personally notify his/her supervisor no later than one hour after the beginning of the normal scheduled work day.

5.  

6. Extended Illness/Disability
   1. Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA): Absences exceeding 3 calendar days may fall under the Family and Medical Leave Act. Please review policy 339, Leaves of Absence: Family and Medical. Human Resources must be notified no later than the fourth day of absence in order to review applicability of coverage under FMLA.
   2. Medical certification will be requested for all leaves of 10 or more work days, regardless of coverage under FMLA.
   3. Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA): Employee absences related to the ADA will be reviewed on a case by case basis. Please see HR 106, Americans with Disabilities Act/Reasonable Accommodations Process.
   4. Upon the exhaustion of paid sick leave not covered by the FMLA, the employee will be required to utilize any accrued vacation time and/or personal time prior to going on to unpaid leave.
   5. An employee's position will be held open while the employee is on paid and/or FMLA and/or ADA leave. If neither FMLA nor ADA applies, there is no guarantee of a position if a leave extends beyond two weeks and no paid time is available. If the employee is unable to return to work and the university decides the position can no longer be held, the individual’s employment status will be changed to "resigned due to medical reasons."
   6. An employee is required to keep the supervisor advised as to their condition and availability to return to work at least once a week for approved short-term leaves.
   7. Prior to returning to work the employee must obtain a statement from the treating healthcare practitioner stating the date the employee is able to return to work and perform the essential duties of the position. The note must be given to Human Resources. It will be placed in the employee’s medical file.

   8.  

7. Other Provisions
   1. Sick Leave payments will not be made for months that do not fall within the normal term of appointment for less than 12 month staff.
   2. Sick leave payments will not be paid for days an employee is not scheduled to work.
   3. Abuse of sick leave privileges may result in discipline up to and including termination. Abuse includes excessive occurrences of sick time, use of sick time for purposes other than for which it was intended, patterns of sick usage indicating abuse, and associated harm on the department in covering the duties and responsibilities of the employee on sick time.
   4. Payroll maintains official sick leave accumulation and use records. Each day of absence for sickness must be reported via WebTime Entry (non-exempt) or the Vacation/Sick Leave Report (exempt and faculty). However, Payroll cannot track scheduled versus unscheduled absences. The Supervisor must track types of occurrences within the department.

Questions regarding this policy should be directed to Human Resources.