This page was last updated on October 24, 2024 at 9:52 PM.
Overview
The use of sick leave is limited to the employee’s own personal illness. As of January 1, 2005, represented employees may use three (3) days per leave/work year (May 1 – April 30) from their sick leave balances for the care of ill family members. Employees covered by the Managerial Pay Plan (MPP) and Original Jurisdiction (OJ) employees may also use three (3) days per leave/work year (September 1 – August 30) from their sick leave balances for the care of ill family members. Approved usage of sick leave for the care of ill family members may be used in increments of one (1) hour.
Calculation/Crediting of Sick Leave Accruals
Sick leave accruals are earned and recorded monthly on the record of each employee. This record will include all sick leave which has been earned up to that time. The accumulation of sick leave is unlimited.
Sick leave accruals are earned during a calendar month, with the computation date being the first day of the following month. In order to be credited with sick leave in any month, the employee must be in full pay status for at least fifteen (15) calendar days in the prior month.
Time recorded on the payroll at the full salary, full period of military service, and the first six (6) months of absence while receiving Workers’ Compensation payments will be considered as time served by the employee for the purpose of earning sick leave accruals.
Deductions for sick leave used during the month appear in CyberShift immediately after the leave request is entered in the system.
Sick Leave Accrual Rates for Non-Managerial Employees
Employees hired prior to July 15, 1996
Hired Duration | Sick Leave Accrual Rate |
---|---|
Beginning of first year | 12 sick days per year (unless otherwise specified in a collective bargaining agreement) |
Employees hired effective July 15, 1996, through March 31, 2000
Note: This provision expired April 1, 2000. Therefore, effective April 1, 2000, employees hired during the period July 15, 1996 through March 31, 2000 shall accrue twelve (12) sick leave days per annum (unless the applicable collective bargaining agreement provides for a January 1, 2000 effective date)
Hired Duration | Sick Leave Accrual Rate |
---|---|
Beginning of first year | 11 sick days per year (6 hours, 25 minutes per month) |
Beginning of fourth year | 12 sick days per year Unless otherwise specified in a collective bargaining agreement) |
Employees hired effective April 1, 2000 – through June 30, 2004
Hired Duration | Sick Leave Accrual Rate |
---|---|
Beginning of first year | 12 sick days per year (unless otherwise specified in a collective bargaining agreement) |
Employees hired effective July 1, 2004, or later
Hired Duration | Sick Leave Accrual Rate |
---|---|
Beginning of first year | 10 days per year for the first 5 years of service (5 hours 50 minutes per month) |
Beginning of fourth year | 12 sick days per year (Unless otherwise specified in a collective bargaining agreement) |
Sick Leave – Non-Managerial Hourly Employees
The accrual of sick leave hours is based on the total number of hours worked each week. Hourly employees must be in full pay status for at least 17 ½ hours per week to be eligible to accrue time for that week, otherwise their hours worked are not counted toward sick leave accruals.
Hourly employees who work thirty-five (35) hours per week for three (3) or more consecutive years in continuous service will accrue such leave time after the third year as if they were annual employees. For the purposes of this section, continuous service is defined as working with no more than a two (2) week break in service.
- Employees hired prior to July 14, 1996, and after April 1, 2000, who work half-time or more, will be credited with a sick leave allowance with pay of one (1) hour for each twenty (20) hours of service with pay.
- Employees hired during the period of July 16, 1996, through March 31, 2000, who work half-time or more, will be credited with a sick leave allowance with pay of one (1) hour per each twenty-two (22) hours of service with pay for the first three (3) years of service Please note: This provision expires April 1, 2000. Therefore, effective April 1, 2000, employees hired during the period July 15, 1996 through March 31, 2000, will be credited with a sick leave allowance with pay of one (1) hour for every twenty (20) hours of service with pay, unless applicable collective bargaining agreement provides for a January 1, 2000, effective date.
However, no hourly employee will earn more sick leave than an annual employee in the same or equivalent title would earn on an annual basis.
Sick Leave Accrual Rates for Managerial and Original Jurisdiction Employees
Employees hired on or after January 1, 2005
Hired Duration | Sick Leave Accrual Rate |
---|---|
Beginning of first year | 10 days per year for the first 5 years of service |
Beginning of sixth year | 12 sick days per year |
Employees hired prior to January 1, 2005
Hired Duration | Sick Leave Accrual Rate |
---|---|
Total | 12 sick days per year |
Sick leave accruals cannot be earned for the period an employee is on leave without pay. For the earning of sick leave accruals, the time recorded on the payroll at the full rate of pay shall be considered as “time served" by the employee. There is no limit on the accrual of sick leave days.
Requirements for Requesting Sick Leave
An employee is responsible for immediately notifying their supervisor of an absence, stating the cause and probable duration of such absence and their exact location. In the case of an illness exceeding five (5) working days, a report on the progress of the illness, by email or by telephone, to the office head at weekly intervals, thereafter, should be made by the employee or by someone on behalf of the employee.
Submission of a doctor’s note in the prescribed form will be waived for self-treated absence up to and including three (3) consecutive workdays. The office head is authorized to approve such leave requests, but if there is substantial evidence of abuse of this privilege, the supervisor may request medical documentation to substantiate the illness.
Doctor's Notes/Medical Documentation
Doctor’s Notes / Medical Documentation for Short-Term Illness or Treatment
If an employee is absent and is required to submit medical documentation due to illness or routine medical examinations and/or treatment, they must submit doctor’s note/medical documentation within three (3) days after returning to duty. The medical documentation should be on the physician’s official letterhead with a signature or stamp and should include the following information:
- Date the note/document was issued.
- A statement that the employee was examined, and/or treated on a specific date.
- The note/document must indicate when the employee can return to work, covering the duration of the sick leave being requested.
- If the documentation is being downloaded from a medical provider’s portal, the duration of the absence and/or the return-to-work date must be indicated.
- If the employee was hospitalized, the documentation should indicate the dates of hospitalization and the name of the hospital.
Diagnosis, Prognosis, and prescribed treatment are not required to be included in doctor’s notes/medical documentation submitted for routine sick leave requests/medical appointments.
Office heads or supervisors are authorized to approve these requests when the employee has sufficient time balances to cover the absence and where no additional time is requested. Exceptional cases and appeals from decisions of the office head will be forwarded to the Medical Leaves and Records Division, who will render a decision.
Medical Documentation / Doctor’s Notes for Long-Term Leave of Absence or Accommodation
When an employee is requesting a Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA), Restoration of Health Leave, Worker’s Compensation, Parental Leave, other long-term leaves of absence or Reasonable Accommodations under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), the requesting employee must provide legally adequate documentation that makes note of their particular health concerns that prevent or limit the staff member’s ability to perform their job. The agency reserves the right to request additional documentation as deemed necessary.
Restrictions on Use of Sick Leave
Self-Treated Illness – Non-Managerial Employees
In a six (6) month period, applications for excuse of absence due to self-treated illness will be approved for a maximum of six (6) days of absence.
Self-Treated Illness – Managerial Employees
Use of accrued sick leave may be approved at the discretion of the managerial employee’s immediate supervisor. Medical certification must be provided for all illnesses of more than three (3) consecutive workdays, consistent with DOE policy, but there is no limit otherwise, on the number of occasions of self-treated absence during a specified period of time. The responsible supervisor or executive may request an evaluation by the Division of Medical Leaves and Records for absences of any duration if the circumstances warrant. The responsible supervisor or executive should request a medical examination in problematic situations or in cases of prolonged illness.
Provisional and Temporary Employees
Provisional and temporary employees are entitled to sick leave privileges and will be subject to the same restrictions as permanent employees, except that they are required to submit doctor’s notes for any sick leave used during their first three (3) months of employment.
Examination by the Division of Medical Leaves and Records
If the time record and/or performance of an employee indicate the need for a medical examination and/or consultation with the medical staff, it is within the Superintendent’s Executive Director’s, or Director’s discretion to have the employee report to the Medical Office for such an examination. The Chief Human Resources Officer of the Division of Human Resources (or designee) upon request or independently is empowered to have an employee who reports ill visited by a member of the Medical Office of the Department of Education.
Recovery of Health Location
Except with the approval of the Chancellor or designee(s), employees who are absent from duty due to illness may not go to places remote from their residences for recovery of health, treatment of illness, or other purposes affecting their mental or physical well-being, without submitting a physician’s certificate satisfactory to the Medical Director of the Department of Education. Failure to comply will be considered insubordination.
Sick Leave during Scheduled Vacation
An employee who is ill during his/her regularly scheduled vacation may not have such absence charged to sick leave allowance, except as otherwise provided in collective bargaining agreements. This absence will be deducted from the employee’s annual leave balance, just as scheduled vacation would be. In cases of extended absence due to sudden serious personal illness, however, this rule may be waived, subject to the following provisions:
- If the employee was hospitalized, the entire period of illness may be charged against the sick leave balance.
- If there was no hospitalization, the first week of illness remains as scheduled vacation to be deducted from the annual leave allowance, and the remainder of the illness may be charged against the sick leave allowance.
Advances of Sick Leave
The following options are available to administrative employees (except provisional and temporary) when accrued sick leave balances are exhausted (both current and vested) because of absence due to illness:
- Additional time is to be charged as absence against accrued annual leave (both current and vested) or compensatory time balances (both current or vested) when available.
- Permanent employees who have exhausted all earned sick leave and annual leave balances due to personal illness and who have maintained a satisfactory rating, may, at the discretion of the employee’s Department Head, be permitted to use unearned sick leave allowance up to the amount earnable in one year of service (up to a maximum of 12 days), chargeable against future earned sick leave.
All requests submitted under this section must specifically indicate the fact that the absence, or part of it, is to be charged against an advance of sick leave allowance. The employee must state in their written request their awareness that, upon their return, the Department of Education will recoup the sick time as it is accrued. The office head will secure the timekeeper’s verification of the attendance data recorded on the request and forward the request with his/her approval or disapproval indicated to CyberShift for processing.