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Unpaid Leaves of Absence Quick Access Menu |
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Occasionally, situations arise which make it necessary for employees to be away from their jobs for an extended period of time for reasons other than an approved, paid vacation. In such instances, it may be possible to apply for a "leave of absence" without pay. Applicable situations are covered below. |
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Employee Medical Leave of Absence
The employee medical leave of absence policy is designed to be an extension of the employee coverage given under the University's Family and Medical Leave Policy. The Employee Medical Leave of Absence policy allows an employee to be gone from work, or work a reduced schedule, for an extended period of time for verified medical reasons without threat of losing their position or health coverage under the University's benefit plans.
An employee medical leave of absence is an unpaid continuous absence from work or a reduced work schedule, in excess of five days but not longer than 6 months. The first day of the medical leave will correspond with the first day the employee is absent or works a reduced schedule (this date may coincide with the University's designation of the leave as FMLA leave). Employee medical leave is granted for reasons of a continuous verified serious health condition of the employee.
Unpaid means leave without salary, except for the employee's accrued vacation or sick pay, or short or extended short term disability leave when applicable.
To be eligible for Employee Medical Leave, an employee must have been employed by the University for at least 12 months, and been employed by the University for at least 1,250 hours during the 12 month period immediately preceding the start of the leave. The employee must also provide a physician's statement certifying the serious medical condition of the employee and the length of the medical leave. The University reserves the right to require a second medical opinion at the University's expense.
The University will continue its contributions to health, dental, life and disability insurance plans and dependent tuition scholarship(s) for the length of the Employee Medical Leave. In order to ensure continued coverage, the employee must arrange through the Office of Human Resources, prior to the beginning of the leave, for the payment of dependent coverage and any shared premium cost.
Holidays which occur during the leave period will not be paid, nor will vacation or sick pay accrue during the portion of the leave when the employee is not receiving accrued vacation, short term disability, maternity leave or sick pay.
Contributions to the retirement plan (which are based on pay) will be continued while accrued vacation, short term disability, maternity leave and sick pay are received but will be suspended once those payments cease. The leave may result in a "break of service" for purposes of participation and vesting under the SPU retirement plan if during the plan year that includes the medical leave, fewer than 500 hours of creditable service is completed.
As soon as the need is known, the employee must notify their immediate supervisor or department head and then complete a Leave of Absence application, which is available from the Office of Human Resources. The Leave of Absence application, together with any required medical certification, should be submitted to the Benefits Manager in the Office of Human Resources. The Office of Human Resources will facilitate the leave approval process with the following individuals:
- Executive Director of Human Resources
- Department Head or Dean
- Area Vice President
In the rare circumstances that an employee is unable, due to medical incapacity, to complete the leave application, the area vice president's office will notify the Office of Human Resources to complete and begin processing the appropriate forms on the employee's behalf.
Employees qualifying for Employee Medical Leave may have already exhausted Family and Medical Leave due to this illness.
The verified serious health condition of the employee must be continuous. Intermittent leave is not a provision of the employee medical leave policy.
Family and Medical Leave (FMLA)
Eligible employees may be entitled to unpaid leave under the federal Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA) for specified family and medical reasons. Paid leave may have to be substituted for unpaid leave in certain cases. The following is a summary of the University's and employee's rights and obligations under the FMLA. Please contact the Office of Human Resources if you have any questions.
To be eligible for FMLA benefits, an employee must have been employed by the University for at least twelve months, and been employed by the University for at least 1,250 hours during the 12-month period immediately preceding the start of the leave. The employee must also be employed at a work site with at least 50 employees working within 75 miles of that work site
The University will grant FMLA leave to eligible employees for the following reasons:
1. The employee's serious health condition;
2. The birth and care of the employee's child;
3. Placement (with the employee) and care of a child for adoption or foster care; and
4. Care of the employee's spouse, child, or parent with a serious health condition.Leave for the birth and care, or placement and care of a child must conclude within 12 months of the birth or placement of the child. FMLA applies equally to male and female employees.
* inpatient care in a hospital, hospice or residential medical care facility,
* or continuing treatment by a health care provider.
Continuing treatment
In broad terms:
A period of incapacity (i.e., inability to work, attend school or perform other regular daily activities due to the serious health condition, treatment thereof, or recovery therefrom) of more than three consecutive calendar days (and any subsequent treatment or period of incapacity involving the same condition) involving treatment two or more times by a health care provider or treatment by a health care provider on at least one occasion that results in a regimen of continuing treatment under the health care provider's supervision.
Any period of incapacity due to pregnancy or prenatal care.
Any period of incapacity or treatment for such incapacity due to a chronic serious health condition that requires periodic visits for treatment by a health care provider; continues over an extended period of time; and may cause episodic rather than continuing incapacity (e.g., asthma, diabetes, epilepsy, etc.).
A period of incapacity that is permanent or long-term due to a condition for which treatment may not be effective (e.g., Alzheimer's, severe stroke, terminal stages of a disease).
Any period of absence to receive multiple treatments by a health care provider either for restorative surgery after an accident or injury or for a condition that would likely result in a period of incapacity of more than three consecutive calendar days in the absence of medical intervention or treatment (e.g., chemotherapy for cancer, physical therapy for severe arthritis, or dialysis for kidney disease).
Parent
The biological parent of an employee or an individual who stands or stood in loco parentis to an employee when the employee was a child.Child
A biological, adopted, or foster child, a stepchild, a legal ward, or a child of a person standing in loco parentis, who is under 18 years of age or 18 years of age or older and incapable of self-care because of a mental or physical disability.Employees seeking FMLA leave should provide their supervisors and the University's Office of Human Resources at least 30 days prior written notice of the proposed leave. Where advance notice is not possible, such as in the event of a medical emergency, notice should be given as soon as practicable. Failure to give advance notice where foreseeable may delay or postpone the commencement of the leave. Please see the Office of Human Resources for the applicable forms.
Certification of Serious Health Condition
If FMLA leave is based on a serious health condition, whether it involves the employee or a family member (parent, spouse, child), medical certification from a health care provider will be required. Failure to provide such certification may result in a delay of the employee's leave. In addition, when returning to work from a leave taken because of the employee's own serious health condition, the employee will be required to provide medical certification that the employee is fit to return to work. Please see the Office of Human Resources for available medical certifications forms.
Eligible employees may be entitled to up to twelve (12) weeks of unpaid leave during any 12-month period (which period is measured backward from the date an employee uses any FMLA leave). Each time an employee takes FMLA leave the remaining leave entitlement equals the balance of the 12 weeks that has not been used during the immediately preceding 12 months.
Where both spouses are employed by the University, they are jointly entitled to a combined 12 weeks of FMLA leave for the birth and care of their newborn child, or for the care and placement with them of a child for adoption or foster care.
In certain circumstances employees may take intermittent leave or leave on a reduced leave schedule. Intermittent leave or leave on a reduced schedule for the birth and care or placement and care of a child for adoption or foster care will be allowed only with the University's prior written approval. Intermittent leave or leave on a reduced schedule may be taken whenever medically necessary to care for a seriously ill family member or because of the employee's own serious health condition.
Where an employee takes FMLA leave because of the employee's own serious medical condition, the employee must substitute any accrued paid sick leave or short term disability leave for any (otherwise) unpaid FMLA leave. An employee must substitute accrued paid vacation leave for all or a part of any (otherwise) unpaid FMLA leave related to the employee's own serious medical condition.
In all other cases, accrued sick leave may be substituted for any (otherwise) unpaid FMLA leave if sick leave is permitted under the University's sick leave policy. See "Sick Leave - Staff" policy. Where an employee has earned or accrued paid vacation, the employee must substitute that paid vacation leave for all or part of any (otherwise) unpaid FMLA relating to birth of a child or placement of a child for adoption or foster care, or care for a spouse, child or parent who has a serious health condition.
The University is responsible for designating if an employee's use of paid leave counts as FMLA leave based on the information provided by the employee. Paid leave that is substituted for unpaid leave will be counted toward the 12 weeks of FMLA leave.
During any FMLA leave, the University will maintain the employee's medical, dental, life and disability insurance coverage on the same conditions that coverage would have been provided if the employee had been continuously employed during the entire leave period. The University and the employee will each continue to pay their portion of the benefit costs. In some instances, the University may recover premiums it paid to maintain health coverage for an employee who fails to return to work from FMLA leave.
During a continuous FMLA leave, sick leave and vacation leave will continue to accrue only during that portion of the leave which is paid by means of a substitution (i.e., short term disability, maternity leave, sick days, vacation days). During any continuous unpaid FMLA leave (not paid by a substitution), sick leave and vacation leave will not accrue. For those persons returning from any continuous unpaid FMLA leave, accrual of vacation leave and sick leave will resume the first of the month which follows or coincides with the date the individual returns to active work. Where the FMLA leave is taken on an intermittent basis or as a reduced-schedule, sick leave and vacation leave will continue to accrue during the leave.
Employees returning from leave will be reinstated to the same or equivalent position, with equivalent pay, benefits, and other terms and conditions of employment. Failure to return to work may result in termination. Under specified and limited circumstances where restoration to employment will cause substantial and grievous economic injury to the University's operations, the University may refuse to reinstate certain highly paid "key" employees. A "key" employee is a salaried eligible employee who is among the highest paid ten percent of employees within 75 miles of the work site.
In addition, an employee's use of FMLA leave cannot result in the loss of any employment benefit that the employee earned or was entitled to before using FMLA leave, nor be counted against the employee under a "no fault" attendance policy.
If an employee is ineligible for leave under FMLA, the employee may be entitled to a leave of absence under the University's established policies addressing leaves of absence. The determination of whether an employee qualifies for FMLA leave will be made at the time leave is requested.
A poster has been placed in the Office of Human Resources which includes further details regarding eligibility and other requirements of the law. Additional information can be obtained by contacting the Office of Human Resources.
The University complies with all applicable federal and state laws in granting a leave of absence or providing re-employment rights and benefits to employees whose military service commitments require them to be away from work. Please contact the Office of Human Resources for more information.
Personal Leave of Absence
An Unpaid Personal Leave of Absence is an unpaid absence from work, for personal reasons, in excess of five working days but less than one calendar year.
A regular full-time or regular part-time employee may apply for a personal leave of absence if he/she has satisfactorily completed one year of employment, and if he/she intends to return to the University at the conclusion of the requested absence.
Approval for leaves is dependent upon length of service, performance, position responsibilities, reason for the request, and the ability of the University to provide for the continuation of the requesting employee's position responsibilities.
All personal leaves of absence must be approved in advance of the absence, through the following process, or the employee will be considered to have voluntarily resigned.
The employee must complete a leave of absence application, which is available in the Office of Human Resources, as soon as the need is known, but not less than 30 days prior to the beginning of one to four week leaves, and not less than 60 days prior to leaves in excess of four weeks. The employee has a responsibility to first notify their supervisor or department head of the plan to file a leave request prior to obtaining an application from the Office of Human Resources. Applications will be facilitated through the approval process by the Office of Human Resources, once eligibility has been verified. Applications must be approved by all of the following, in the following order:
1. Director of Human Resources
2. Department Head or Dean
3. Area Vice PresidentThe University will not contribute to fringe benefits (health, life, dental, and disability insurance and the tuition scholarship) during a personal leave in excess of two weeks. However, by arrangement through the Office of Human Resources prior to the beginning of the leave, the employee may continue group health insurance by paying all applicable premiums.
Holidays which occur during the leave period will not be paid, nor will vacation or sick pay accrue while an employee is on leave.
Contributions to the retirement plan (which are based on salary) will be suspended for the length of the unpaid leave. The leave may result in a "break of service" for purposes of participation and vesting under the SPU retirement plan, if, during the plan year that includes the unpaid leave of absence, fewer than 500 hours of creditable service is completed.
Before a personal leave is approved, an agreement will be reached between the employee and the University to hold the employee's position or a similar position open for the period of the leave. Extensions to the Personal Leave will release the University to fill the open position with another person and the employee will be considered to have voluntarily resigned that position. If another position is not offered to or accepted by the employee within 30 days following the employee's return from leave, the employee will be considered to have voluntarily resigned from the University.