Sick Leave, Family Sick Leave/Bereavement Leave, and the Family and Medical Leave Act

Please note: Provisions in the 2007–2011 NYS/UUP Agreement cited in this section remain in effect until the new agreement, which is currently being negotiated, is ratified. After ratification, this handbook will be updated to reflect any relevant changes. You can also visit the UUP website, www.uupinfo.org, for contract updates.

Sick Leave for Academic-Year Faculty
Faculty members are required to report their sick leave on a monthly basis. Sick leave reports are filed for all faculty at the end of the fall and spring semester. Please refer to Timesheets for related information.

• Academic-year faculty members accrue sick leave during the term of their professional obligation. They are not required to charge sick leave during academic-year recess periods and do not accrue (or charge) sick leave during June, July, and August. (Calendar-year faculty members accrue and charge both sick and vacation leave on a 12-month basis.)
   
  
• Sick leave may be used for medical or dental appointments.
   
  
• Because a full-time professional obligation assumes a five-day workweek (Monday through Friday) and sick-leave credits are accrued on the basis of five days per week, sick leave must also be charged on that basis.
   
  
• If you retire from state service, your sick-leave credit may reduce the cost of your retiree health insurance premiums. For eligibility and further information, please contact the Benefits Office in Human Resources, (914) 251-6091.

Please refer to “Faculty Absence and Appropriate Coverage” under Faculty Professional Obligation for related information. For more detailed information on sick leave, please refer to Article 23.1 and 23.4 in the 2007–2011 NYS/UUP Agreement. Additional information, including sick-leave accruals for calendar-year faculty, is also available online on the Human Resources site.

Full-time, academic-year faculty members accrue sick leave as follows:

Part-time faculty members accrue sick leave as follows:

Sick leave is charged on the following legal holidays if the college is open and classes are in session:

Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Lincoln’s Birthday, Washington’s Birthday, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Columbus Day, Election Day, Veterans Day

A letter from a physician or medical provider is required when a faculty member has received approval to take extended sick leave and when the faculty member wishes to return from sick leave. In addition, an employee may be required at any time to furnish suitable medical evidence from a physician to substantiate a claimed temporary disability. (Article XIII, Title C, Policies of the Board of Trustees)

Family Sick Leave/Bereavement Leave
Faculty members may use up to a maximum of 30 days per year of sick leave for absences necessitated by an illness or a death in the immediate family (Article 23, §4.4, 2007–2011 NYS/UUP Agreement). Immediate family includes any relative or relative-in-law, or any person(s) with whom an employee makes his or her home.

Family and Medical Leave Act
Faculty members are covered by the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) of 1993, which requires employers to provide up to 12 weeks of unpaid, job-protected leave to eligible employees for the purposes of caring for a child after birth, adoption, or foster care; caring for a spouse, child, or parent with a serious health condition; or for a serious health condition that makes the employee unable to perform his or her job. Medical documentation is required.

Faculty members are eligible if they have worked at the university for one year and for 1,250 hours during the previous 12 months. While on FMLA leave, SUNY must maintain the employee’s health insurance coverage at the same employee contribution rate that the employee pays while working.

FMLA Military Family Leave Entitlements allows an eligible employee who is a spouse, son, daughter, parent, or next of kin of a current member of the Armed Forces (including a member of the National Guard or Reserves) with a serious injury or illness up to a total of 26 workweeks of unpaid leave during a “single 12-month period” to care for the service member.

Please contact the Benefits Office in Human Resources, (914) 251-6091, to learn more about FMLA coverage. Information is also available online on the Human Resources site.

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