ÌÇÐÄvlog¹ÙÍø

Under the NY Sick Leave law, employers are required to provide their employees with paid sick leave. ÌÇÐÄvlog¹ÙÍø has elected to use the alternate accrual system for administrators, which means all exempt (salaried) employees will receive 56 hours of paid sick leave each calendar year. Employees are allowed to carry over annually up to 56 hours, to a maximum of 112 hours.

This requirement does not impact ÌÇÐÄvlog¹ÙÍø’s sick leave policy for exempt employees. Based on the current policy, administrators are able to take a reasonable amount of sick leave, which may be beyond the requirement of providing 56 hours. Unused sick leave balances have no monetary value and will not be paid out at termination or retirement for exempt employees. Employees are not required to disclose confidential information relating to the reason for the use of sick leave but are still required to notify Human Resources of absences that exceed 3 days.

All exempt employees must record sick leave taken in the leave scheduler, which is located in the . Sick leave is to be used in half-hour increments. 

Sick leave can only be used for qualifying reasons, and employees must communicate all absences with their supervisor and follow the departmental practices in place for requesting time off and providing notification.

Qualifying Reasons for the Use of Sick Time

• Mental or physical illness, injury or health condition of the employee or employee’s family member. 
• Diagnosis, care or treatment of a mental or physical illness, injury or health condition of the employee or employee’s family member. 
• Preventive care for an employee or an employee’s family member 
• Absence for reasons related to an employee or an employee’s family member being the victim of domestic violence, a family offense, a sexual offense, stalking, or human trafficking: 
  • To obtain service from domestic violence shelter, rape crisis center, or other services program; 
  • To participate in safety planning, to temporarily or permanently relocate, or to take other actions in increase the safety of an employee and/or an employee’s family member;
  • To meet with an attorney or other social services provider in relation to a criminal or civil proceeding;
  • To file a complaint or domestic incident report with law enforcement;
  • To meet with the district attorney's office;
  • To take any other actions necessary to ensure the health and safety of an employee or an employee’s family member, or to protect those who associate or work with the employee.

Under the NY Sick Leave law, employers are required to provide their employees with paid sick leave. All ÌÇÐÄvlog¹ÙÍø-exempt employees are provided 56 hours at the beginning of the calendar year and can carry over annually up to 56 hours, to a maximum of 112 hours. This law applies to all employees, even faculty, but other than requiring the university to track sick time, it does not change anything relating to the existing sick time policies contained in the Faculty Handbook. The Faculty Handbook policy provides significant flexibility to faculty members needing to take time away from work because of illness about the stat mandate of 56 hours.  

In order to provide a universal system that meets the NYS requirements, a Leave Scheduler was created, which can be found in the . Part of the requirement is to provide the accrual, amount used, and balance remaining to employees, and therefore we ask that all exempt employees record sick leave when taken. Sick leave is to be used in half-hour increments.

Qualifying Reasons for the Use of Sick Time 

• Mental or physical illness, injury or health condition of the employee or employee’s family member. 
• Diagnosis, care or treatment of a mental or physical illness, injury or health condition of the employee or employee’s family member. 
• Preventive care for an employee or an employee’s family member 
• Absence for reasons related to an employee or an employee’s family member being the victim of domestic violence, a family offense, a sexual offense, stalking, or human trafficking: 
  • To obtain service from domestic violence shelter, rape crisis center, or other services program; 
  • To participate in safety planning, to temporarily or permanently relocate, or to take other actions in increase the safety of an employee and/or an employee’s family member;
  • To meet with an attorney or other social services provider in relation to a criminal or civil proceeding;
  • To file a complaint or domestic incident report with law enforcement;
  • To meet with the district attorney's office;
  • To take any other actions necessary to ensure the health and safety of an employee or an employee’s family member, or to protect those who associate or work with the employee. 
     

Sick time is to be used for employees who are absent due to personal illness (including medical or dental appointments). Employees must communicate absences related to sick time with supervisors following established departmental guidelines. The University, in its sole discretion, may require a physician’s statement regarding any absence for alleged illness. Employees and/or supervisors must notify the Human Resources Department for any absence that extends more than 5 working days.

In addition, sick time may also be used for caring for members of the immediate family who are ill and require care at home for brief periods of time or for doctor’s appointments that cannot be scheduled outside of working hours. Members of the immediate family include a spouse/ domestic partner, parent, child, sibling, grandparents, and other persons in comparable relationships to the employee.

Sick time may be used in half-hour increments, but will not be paid if in excess of the employee’s accumulated balance of time available. The available balance is reported to employees on their payroll statements with each paycheck. Visit the Employee Handbook for the accrual schedule and further information.