SICK LEAVE

Full-time employees will earn days for paid sick leave at a fixed rate. Sick leave will accrue from the first day of employment and can be taken as it accumulates.

Adopted November 19, 1981
Reformatted October 7, 1986
Reformatted March 2012

Procedure 4510Bi

SICK LEAVE

Employees accumulate 15 days of sick leave per year. They can take earned sick leave for a variety of reasons. In certain situations, the supervisor can ask for written medical proof. An employee cannot be paid both by Worker’s Compensation and by the College’s sick leave benefit.

Accumulating Sick Leave
Full-time employees will earn days for paid sick leave at the rate of 15 days per year. A “year” is determined according to the length of each employee’s contract. Employees on an academic year contract, therefore, will not accumulate additional sick leave for teaching summer school.

Sick leave accumulates from the first day of employment up to a maximum of 120 days. Sick leave does not accumulate during a leave of absence without pay. When an employee terminates employment, sick leave no longer accumulates, and the employee is not paid for unused sick leave.

Taking Sick Leave
Employees can take earned sick leave for themselves or immediate family members due to:
• Sickness or injury,
• Medical, dental, or optical examinations or treatments,
• Examinations for military service or for disability payments, or
• Home quarantine at the written recommendation of a physician because they might expose others to a contagious disease.

For the purposes of this procedure, immediate family includes spouse, parents, and dependents.

Employees cannot take sick leave before they have earned it.

Employees must notify their supervisor that they are sick and unable to report to work, at least one hour before work begins. Failure to notify the supervisor without good cause may result in disciplinary action.

If the employee takes sick leave for three (3) consecutive days, the supervisor can ask the employee for a written statement from the appropriate medical authority.

Employees can take sick leave during a vacation, if they are hospitalized and notify the supervisor immediately. The employee must submit medical proof to the supervisor when they return to work.

If a holiday occurs during a sick leave, the holiday is not counted as a day of sick leave.

Choosing Sick Leave or Worker’s Compensation
If an employee covered by Worker’s Compensation is injured at work, the employee must report the accident immediately to the supervisor. Since Worker’s Compensation provides partial compensation for the time lost when the injured person is hospitalized or off work for more than the three (3) days, the employee must decide whether to accept benefits either from the College or from Worker’s Compensation, not both.

Payments made under Worker’s Compensation become charges to the College’s account and cost the College money. Therefore, to process the claims, the supervisor must immediately report every work injury to the Human Resource Office.

Approved November 19, 1981
Reformatted October 7, 1986
Revised November 21, 1991
Reformatted March 2012