The Sick Leave policy is designed to provide position and salary continuation in the event of illness and to encourage sick leave conservation for extended protection.
Regular full-time, part-time and limited service staff members through position grade 28 are eligible.
The accumulation of sick leave allows continuation of full base pay plus benefits when an eligible staff member is required to be absent from work because of illness or medical conditions.
Accrual
Sick leave is accrued based on a staff member’s regularly scheduled hours of work. A full-time or limited service staff member accrues sick leave at the rate of one day per completed month of service up to twelve days in each fiscal year (July l-June 30). A regular, part-time staff member accrues sick leave on a pro-rata basis. The maximum sick leave accumulation is ninety (90) work days.
Notification
A staff member or designee should notify the supervisor or APPC Staff Director as soon as it is known that that the staff member will be unable to work, but no later than the starting time of the work day. A staff member must notify the supervisor on each day of absence unless other arrangements have been made. The staff member is responsible for assuring that commitments not able to be rescheduled are met by others or cancelled.
A supervisor should be given as much notice as possible when a staff member has advanced knowledge of a necessary medical absence.
Health care provider certification after 3 days
When a staff member has been out on sick leave for more than three (3) consecutive work days, the University requires documentation from a health care provider be submitted to the supervisor certifying the medical necessity for the absence and expected date of return to work. Additionally, where a staff member has been out on sick leave for more than three (3) consecutive work days, the supervisor is expected to notify the staff member that the University is provisionally designating the use of that sick leave as Family Medical Leave in addition to sick leave. The supervisor must notify the APPC Staff Director to invoke the Family Medical Leave Act on the staff member’s behalf. This protects your job as prescribed by federal law.
For any absence due to illness, a supervisor may request a written statement from the staff member’s health care provider, certifying the medical necessity for an absence.
Usage of sick leave
Sick leave may be used for illness of the staff member, for illness of a member of the household (up to three (3) days per fiscal year) and for doctor/dentist appointments when it is not possible to schedule them during non-working hours. Sick time used for health care provider appointments, which are not medically urgent, must be scheduled in advance and approved by the supervisor.
Sick leave is provided for the reasons stated in this policy and may not be used for other purposes. Sick leave may not be advanced.
Staff members who use sick leave may be required to concurrently use benefits under the Family Medical Leave policy.
See full University policy at: http://www.hr.upenn.edu/