TIME AWAY FROM WORK
SICK LEAVE
Sick leave is accrued for continuous service from the date
of initial employment unless otherwise provided by state
statute or superseded by an applicable collective bargaining
agreement. Sick leave may be charged for a variety of medical
reasons including your own illness, medical or dental
appointments that cannot be scheduled outside of regular
working hours, the birth of a child, critical illness of an
immediate family member and to attend a funeral of an
immediate family member. Generally, you may use from three to
five days of sick leave for the last three reasons. You
should read your collective bargaining agreement or Human Resources
policies for specific limits.
There is no maximum accrual of sick leave. Thus, prudent
use of this benefit permits you to build a bank of time
available for use in the event of serious accident or
illness. At retirement, a portion of your accrued sick leave
is paid to you in a lump sum.
ACCRUAL
Sick leave begins to be credited to you at the end of
the first full calendar month of employment. If you are a
part-time employee, sick leave accrues at a rate
proportional to the number of hours you work as recorded
in the attendance and leave records (up to the equivalent
of full time employment).
Sick leave continues to accrue in a month when sick
leave is taken, but does not accrue for any calendar
month in which you are on a leave of absence without pay
for an aggregate of more than three or five working days
consistent with the applicable collective bargaining
agreement.
GRANTING
Sick leave may be granted if you are ill or injured or
recuperating from an illness or injury. Sick leave may
also be granted during the period of time when you are
disabled as the result of pregnancy, as certified by your
physician.
SICK LEAVE ON VACATION OR HOLIDAY
If you become ill while on scheduled vacation, you may
request that the time be charged against accrued sick
leave by submitting an acceptable medical certificate
verifying the illness.
A paid state holiday occurring when you are on sick
leave will be counted as a holiday and not charged
against your sick leave balance.
MEDICAL CERTIFICATE
In the following circumstances you may be asked to
substantiate the use of sick leave by providing an
acceptable medical certificate. Provisions may vary
according to bargaining unit contract.
-
any period of absence of more than five
consecutive work days
-
to support a request for sick leave during your
scheduled vacation
-
when excessive absenteeism or other circumstances
give reasonable cause for requiring such a
certificate
-
when your presence at work will expose others to
a contagious disease
-
when there is an illness or injury in your
immediate family creating an emergency requiring
your presence
-
to support a request for Parental or Family Leave
-
to substantiate a request for Advance Sick Leave
-
to substantiate a request for use of the Sick
Leave Bank
-
to update extended leave of absence due to
illness
-
to substantiate a request for donation of paid
leave by other employees
An acceptable medical certificate must be a written
document containing the following information: dates of
absence chargeable to sick leave, diagnosis of illness or
injury, prognosis, and anticipated date of return to
work. The certificate must be signed by a licensed
physician or other practitioner whose method of healing
is recognized by the State.
SICK LEAVE BANK
Certain unions have established emergency sick leave banks
to provide permanent bargaining unit employees with salary
benefits during periods of catastrophic or extended long term
illness. Union employees are assessed a number of hours set
by the contract to be donated to the emergency sick leave
bank. These hours are for allocation to employees meeting the
appropriate conditions. Please refer to your collective
bargaining agreement to determine if you are covered by an
emergency sick leave bank and under what conditions.
DONATION OF LEAVE
Employees in several bargaining units may donate vacation
and personal leave accruals to a fellow bargaining unit
employee who is absent as a result of a long-term illness or
injury. Your collective bargaining agreement or appropriate
Human Resources policies describe the conditions and requirements
of leave donation.
VACATION LEAVE
Vacation leave with pay is accrued for continuous service
from the date of your initial employment unless otherwise
provided by State statute or superseded by an applicable
collective bargaining agreement. If you are a part-time
employee, you accrue vacation time on a proportional basis
equivalent to the number of hours you work.
You are credited with accrued vacation leave upon
completion of the first full calendar month of employment.
Rates of accrual and maximum accruals depend upon your
collective bargaining agreement or applicable Human Resources
policies. Vacation time must be requested in advance of its
use, and the request may be denied if plans conflict with the
operating needs of your department or the University and
other arrangements cannot be made.
If vacation time is being taken during a period which
includes a paid State holiday, the time is recorded as a
holiday and not charged to your accrued vacation leave.
You are encouraged to use vacation time in the year that
it is earned. Some contracts limit carry-over of days from
one calendar year to the next, and there is a maximum number
of vacation days which can be accrued.
EDUCATIONAL LEAVE
AAUP
You may receive, at the discretion of the President,
educational or professional leave with pay for up
to five (5) working days for each occurrence, which may
or may not be consecutive. Such leaves must be for the
benefit of the University and may include such activities
as attendance at conventions, professional meetings or
taking part in seminars devoted to an appropriate
subject.
SUOAF/AFSCME
You may enroll in special seminars, workshops, or
courses and engage in other activities which lead to
improved professional administration and enhance the
stature of the institution. Where attendance at such
functions requires released time, short or long-term
leaves may be approved.
MANAGEMENT/ CONFIDENTIAL
The President may grant short-term leave with pay for
not more than five (5) consecutive working days. Such
short term leaves may be taken only to improve your
professional competency or for the benefit of the
University. You may take no more than two such short-term
leaves during any calendar year.
CLASSIFIED
A leave of absence, not to exceed one year, may be
granted to you with full or part pay, or without pay, for
educational purposes. Educational leaves are granted to
enable you to study or receive technical training which
will increase your proficiency in your position.
FAMILY AND MEDICAL LEAVE
You are eligible to request a Family and Medical Leave
(FMLA) as provided by either the Federal Family and Medical
Leave Act of 1993 or Connecticut General Statute
5-248(a).
Both Federal law and State statute permit you to request
FMLA for the following reasons:
1. The birth or adoption of a child*;
2. To care for your spouse, son or daughter or parent
with a serious health condition; or
3. Your own serious health condition.
*Federal FMLA permits use of the leave for placement of a
foster child in your home.
ELIGIBILITY
Eligibility for the two types of leave differ. Federal
law requires that you have worked 12 months or 1,250
hours over the previous 12 months.
Connecticut law requires that you be a permanent
employee of the State to be eligible.
DURATION OF LEAVE
Federal FMLA permits a leave of up to 12 weeks in a
12-month period. Connecticut law permits a leave of up to
24 weeks in a 2-year period.
You are eligible to request leave under either or both
statutes provided the leave runs concurrently. Federal
law permits the use of paid time (vacation, personal or
sick) while the Connecticut statute provides only for
unpaid leave.
Use of FMLA requires that you make a written request
for the leave, and
supply medical documentation while stating your intent
to return to work upon the completion of your leave.
Health insurance benefits remain intact during your
use of FMLA.
Details regarding both Federal and State FMLA are
available in Human Resources. Contact Bonnie Price (x21755) for further
information.
INFORMATION:
FMLA Summary
FORMS:
Employee Request (HR-1)
Employee Medical Certificate Form (P-33A)
Employee Medical Certificate Form - Caregiver (P-33B)
FUNERAL
You may be granted from three to five days of paid leave
(depending on your collective bargaining agreement) for a
death in the immediate family. “Immediate family"
in this case is typically defined as husband, wife, father,
mother, sister, brother, or child, and any relative who lives
in your household. This leave may be charged to sick leave
balances and is recorded on your attendance report.
Some collective bargaining agreements provide for you to
use up to three days of accrued sick leave per calendar year
to attend funerals of persons other than immediate family
members. Check your collective bargaining agreement or
Human Resources policies.
HOLIDAYS
If you are a full time University employee, you are
granted time off with pay for twelve legal holidays:
|
New Year's Day |
Independence Day |
|
Martin Luther King Day |
Labor Day |
|
Lincoln's Birthday* |
Columbus Day** |
|
Washington's Birthday |
Veteran's Day*** |
|
Good Friday (Day of Reflection) |
Thanksgiving Day |
|
Memorial Day |
Christmas Day |
*For members of the AAUP Bargaining Unit,
this holiday is observed on the Friday prior to Washington's
Birthday.
**The Columbus Day holiday is observed by AAUP members on
the day before Thanksgiving.
***For management and members of the AAUP and SUOAF/AFSCME
Bargaining Unit, this holiday is observed on the Friday
following Thanksgiving.
Individual collective bargaining agreements or Human
Resources
policies should be consulted to determine provisions
concerning holiday compensation and/or compensatory time off
for work performed on a holiday.
If you are a part-time employee, you are granted time off
with pay for the number of hours you would normally work if
the holiday fell on your regularly scheduled work day. Under
some contracts the time is pro-rated.
JURY DUTY
If you are called to serve as a juror, you will receive
your regular pay, for each work day while on jury duty. When
you receive a notice to report for jury duty, you should
immediately inform your supervisor and the University
Human Resources department. Payments received for jury duty except for
travel allowance must be turned over to the University
through the Human Resources department.
MATERNITY LEAVE
Paid leave may be available for periods of disability due
to pregnancy, childbirth, miscarriage, or abortion. If your
physician certifies that you are medically unable to work due
to one of these conditions, you may use accrued sick leave.
If your sick leave has been exhausted, you may charge any
other earned leave balance.
MILITARY LEAVE
If you are a member of the armed forces, or any reserve
component of the armed forces of the United States, you are
entitled to military leave with
pay for active duty for required field training which
fulfills the annual training requirement, provided the leave
does not exceed three calendar weeks in a calendar year. Some
collective bargaining agreements also provide for additional
paid and unpaid military leave.
PERSONAL LEAVE
Three personal leave days are made available each year to
conduct private business, including the observance of
religious holidays. Personal leave days are granted on
January 1, or at the completion of the working test period
(where applicable). If they are not used by Dec. 31 of the
same calendar year, they expire. Some permanent part-time
employees receive pro-rata personal leave days based on the
amount of time scheduled to work.
VOLUNTARY SCHEDULE REDUCTION PROGRAM
CGS
5-248c permits permanent employees to reduce their work schedules for a
limited period of time.
Permanent
employees are eligible for schedule reductions.
DEFINITION:
“Schedule Reduction” means a voluntary reduction
in the number of hours worked by an employee, by taking unpaid prescheduled
individual or partial days off on an occasional basis, or by reducing the
number of hours worked per week on a regular basis (leaves of more than one
day may not be approved under this program, but may be considered under
other leave programs).
PROCEDURE:
Written
requests must be forwarded through the chain of supervisory authority for
approval. The request needs to
include the starting and
ending dates, scheduled
workdays, and the number of hours of leave requested.
Days off or reduced hours under the program are without
pay.
Schedule
reductions cannot be granted if it would result in an employee falling below
the threshold for eligibility for health insurance.
Days
off which are taken as a result of this program may not be counted toward
completion of a Promotional Working Test Period.
EMPLOYEE
BENEFITS AND STATUS
Health
and Insurance Benefits:
During
the period of an approved work schedule reduction, an employee’s health
and life insurance shall continue on the same basis as
prior to the schedule modification.
Seniority:
An
employee shall receive any seniority credit for unpaid time as a result of a
schedule reduction.
Longevity:
An
employee shall receive full credit for longevity for unpaid time as a result
of a schedule reduction.
Vacation
and Sick Leave Accruals:
An
employee on a schedule reduction shall continue to accrue vacation and sick
leave at the same rate as prior to the schedule reduction, and
shall
not lose accruals for any month when there is a schedule reduction.
Holidays:
An
employee on a schedule reduction shall be granted time off with pay for any
legal holiday that falls on a day when s/he would otherwise
have been scheduled to
work. If an employee is
required to work on a holiday, s/he shall be granted a day off in lieu
thereof. If a holiday
falls on a day when an employee would not have been scheduled to work as a
result of a schedule reduction, s/he shall be paid 20% of his/her
scheduled weekly hours.
Workers’
Compensation:
Any
benefit to which an employee is entitled under Workers’ Compensation
Statutes shall not be affected by a scheduled reduction.
Overtime:
Payment
of overtime during a schedule reduction shall continue in accordance with an
employee’s collective bargaining agreement.
For
purposes of calculating overtime payment, schedule reduction hours shall not
be counted as time worked.
Retirement
Benefits:
An
employee shall receive full credit for retirement for unpaid time as a
result of a schedule reduction, and shall not be required to contribute
any sums for that credit.
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