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 may accumulate up to fifteen (15) days (120 hours) of sick leave per year. They can take earned sick leave for a variety of medical reasons.  Supervisors are responsible for working with Human Resources to ensure compliance with this policy.  Human Resources reserves the right to require documentation from a health care provider to verify the need for sick leave and/or authorizing the employee to return to work.  An employee cannot be paid by both Worker’s Compensation and the College’s sick leave benefit.

Accumulating Sick Leave
Full-time employees may earn days for paid sick leave at the rate of approximately fifteen (15 days) or up to 120 hours per year.  Non-exempt (hourly) full-time employees accrue sick time based on hours worked; therefore, they may not earn the full fifteen (15) days per year.

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.

The supervisor must notify Human Resources  if the employee takes sick leave for three (3) consecutive workdays.  In such cases, Human Resources requires documentation from a healthcare provider to verify the need for sick leave and/or authorizing the employee to return to work.

Employees may take sick leave during a vacation, if they can provide medical documentation related to the illness or injury. The employee must submit medical documentation to Human Resources 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 and Human Resources. Because Worker’s Compensation provides partial compensation for the time lost on approved claims when the injured person is hospitalized or off work for more than the three (3) workdays, the employee must decide whether to accept benefits either from the College or from Worker’s Compensation, not both.  Under Wyoming Statute 27-14-404, Temporary Total Disability payments are not allowed for the first three (3) days of disability unless the incapacity extends beyond eight (8) days.   

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-related injury to Human Resources.  See Policy 4320B for more information on Worker’s Compensation.

Approved November 19, 1981
Reformatted October 7, 1986
Revised November 21, 1991
Reformatted March 2012
Revised September 16, 2022