OA Sick Leave

Officer of Administration Time Off Policy (V.09.02)

Procedure: Section IV

Eligibility

All OAs are eligible for the accrual and use of sick time as outlined below.

Accrual

OAs appointed at 1.0 FTE accrue 8 hours of sick time per month, or 2 hours for each full week of service less than one month. OAs appointed at less than 1.0 FTE accrue sick time in proportion to their FTE.

There is no maximum accrual limit for sick time.

Approval

OAs may use accrued sick time for absences due to illness, injury, childbirth, medical or dental care, and exposure to contagious disease. In addition, sick time may be used to attend to members of the OA's immediate family (parents, spouse or partner, spouse or partner’s parents, children, grandchildren, brother, sister, grandmother, grandfather, son-in-law, daughter-in-law or another member of the immediate household) where the OA's presence is required for medical reasons or due to death in the immediate family of the OA or of the OA's spouse or partner.

A supervisor may require a physician's certificate to support the sick time claim for absences in excess of 15 consecutive calendar days or for recurring sick leave use that demonstrates a potential abuse of sick leave. A physician's release may also be required before allowing return to work to verify that the return will not be detrimental to the OA or others in the workplace.

Conditions

OAs may use sick time to supplement workers' compensation benefits.  In no case, however, can the combination of workers' compensation and sick time exceed the OA's salary.

Unused sick time cannot be paid out. 

Overtime

OAs entitled to overtime pay under state or federal law (non-exempt OAs) will receive overtime pay or compensatory time for those hours worked over forty in a workweek. Non-exempt OAs must ask their supervisor for permission to work over forty hours in a workweek. OAs supervising non-exempt employees are required to track hours worked and provide legally required meals and rest breaks.

Transfer & Restoration

An OA is entitled to transfer in unused sick leave earned with any other Oregon public university, provided the break in service upon transfer does not exceed two years.

An OA who leaves employment with the University of Oregon and then returns is entitled to reinstate the previous unused, accrued sick leave, provided the break in services does not exceed two years.

Unearned Sick Leave Advance

The purpose of this section is to provide salary continuance for up to 90 calendar days of absence due to an OA’s own FMLA/OFLA-covered illness through a combination of short-term disability and both accrued and advance sick leave. Unearned sick leave is for an OA’s own FMLA/OFLA-covered illness and therefore cannot be used to care for a family member. Medical certification is required. Each sick leave eligible, full-time OA is entitled to receive a sick-leave-with-pay advance, after exhaustion of short-term disability benefits, as needed to provide the difference between sick leave earned as of the onset of the illness or injury and 520 hours; part-time staff are eligible to receive a sick-leave-with-pay advance proportional to FTE to provide the difference between sick leave earned as of the onset of the illness or injury and a prorate of 520 hours. OAs who are in their probationary period (see OA separations procedure) are eligible to receive up to 80 hours of a sick-leave-with-pay advance. As sick leave is earned, the amount shall replace any sick leave advanced until all advanced time is replaced with earned time. Once an OA has been advanced the maximum amount of unearned sick leave, prorated by FTE, they shall not be eligible to be advanced additional sick leave until the full amount has been repaid. No more than a 520-hour sick leave advance is available during a seven-year period that begins with the first sick leave advance. More than one sick leave advance is possible as long as the total advance does not exceed 520 hours during a seven-year period. Sick leave that may have been advanced, but unused, cannot be considered for purposes of computing retirement benefits. OAs in temporary or intermittent positions cannot receive an advance that extends beyond the end date of their appointment except upon written approval of the President or designee. Units must contact the HR Medical Leaves Coordinator to determine an OA’s eligibility for a sick-leave-with-pay advance.