Sick leave is provided to all regular staff employees working in regular college positions budgeted for 20 hours or more per week (1040 hours per year).

Eligibility

• Regular full-time and regular part-time employees who are scheduled for at least 20 hours per week (1040 hours per year) are eligible for sick leave accruals.
• Temporary employees are not eligible for sick leave.

Policy Details

Hourly (non-exempt) Employee Leave Accruals

Full-time regular hourly employees earn 3.08 hours sick leave per pay period (80 hours per year). This assumes the employee works 40 hours per week, 52 weeks per year. Regular employees working fewer hours per week or fewer weeks per year earn a pro-rated amount based on the full-time accrual. Employees do not earn sick leave during periods of leave without pay or for overtime hours worked. Bi-weekly employees also earn personal leave which is the reason this accrual is less than 8 hours per month.

Maximum accrual for hourly (non-exempt) employees

Sick leave may be accumulated up to a maximum of 1040 hours and may be taken in minimum increments of 15 minutes. In extreme circumstances, the supervisor should call the Director of Human Resources to discuss the option of advancing sick leave that an employee will earn during the remainder of the calendar year. Salary deductions will be made to compensate for overdrawn leave if an employee separates from the college before earning all sick leave taken.

Salaried (exempt) Employee Leave Accruals

Full-time regular salaried (monthly paid) staff employees earn eight hours of sick leave per month (96 hours per year). This assumes the employee works 40 hours per week, 52 weeks per year. Regular employees working fewer hours per week or fewer weeks per year earn a pro-rated amount based on the full-time accrual.

Maximum accrual for salaried (exempt) employees

Sick leave may be accumulated up to a maximum of 1040 hours and must be taken in increments of 8 hours (full days). The employee should make up partial days off for illness, doctor’s appointments, etc. In accordance with the Fair Labor Standards Act, the college cannot record partial days absent for salaried employees.

Sick Leave Balance At End of Employment

At termination or retirement, there is no payment for unused sick leave.

Uses of Sick Leave

Sick leave may be granted for the following reasons:
(1) Illness, injury or disability preventing performance of normal duties;
(2) Death in the immediate family which requires the employee to be out longer than the allocated funeral/bereavement leave (also see Funeral/Bereavement Leave policy);
(3) Illness of a member of the immediate family, including step relationships, any other dependents living in the household, or parent (regardless of whether or not the parent resides with the employee);
(4) Medical or dental appointments; and/or
(5) Disability period associated with child birth (pregnancy); and
(6) Adoption of a child, limited to 30 days for each parent (also see Family Medical Leave Act).

Recording and Reporting Sick Leave for Hourly (non-exempt) Employees

Hourly employees should record sick leave on the time sheet. The supervisor’s signature on the time sheet indicates approval of the absence. If the employee uses Kronos, the employee should follow the department's policy for calling in to report sick time. The supervisor should then report the sick time in Kronos for that day whether the employee has sick time available or not. The system will automatically deduct the time accordingly. For instance, if the employee has no sick time available, then the system will automatically deduct from the vacation and personal leave balances respectively. If the employee has no sick, vacation or personal leave available, the employees' pay will be docked accordingly.

Recording and Reporting Sick Leave for Salaried (exempt) Employees

Salaried employees should record days of sick leave on the “salaried employee monthly leave report”, obtain supervisory approval, and send the report to the Human Resources office.

Notification of Supervisor/Supervisor Approval of Sick Leave

If an employee is absent due to illness, the supervisor should be called in accordance with the department’s call-in procedure. Medical or dental appointments should be scheduled in advance (if possible) and scheduled for times that cause the least disruption to the daily work schedule. Supervisors may ask that requests for sick leave pay be reasonably documented with a doctor’s statement.

Questions regarding this policy should be directed to Human Resources at 704-894-2213.