Sick Time

The purpose of paid sick time is to provide a continuation of salary or wages to eligible employees whose absences from work meet the requirements of this policy. Paid sick time is a privilege and not an earned right.

An employee who is regularly scheduled to work 40 hours or more per biweekly pay period (.50 FTE or more) and whose position is expected to be active for six (6) months or more, or who is on a flexible-year appointment, is eligible for and accrues paid sick time from the most recent date of hire into a full-benefits-eligible position. A probationary regular classified staff employee may use paid sick time during the initial probationary period.

Part-time and temporary employees are not eligible for paid sick time benefits.

Accrual

An eligible employee accrues paid sick time at the rate of eight (8) hours for each month of full-time employment, calculated on a biweekly basis. Paid sick time shall accrue at the rate of 3.69 hours per 80-hour pay period for full-time employees, or .046125 hours for each paid hour up to 80 hours.

Employees shall not accrue paid sick time while in an unpaid status or for overtime hours worked. Eligible academic-year employees do not accrue paid sick time during their non-work period.
 

Paid Sick Time

Employee Illness/Injury

Eligible employees may be granted paid sick time when they are unable to perform duties because of (a) illness, injury, pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions; or (b) when absent for the purpose of obtaining health-related services not available outside of regular working hours.

Serious Illness within an Employee's Immediate Family, Established Household or in Primary Care Situations

An eligible employee may be granted use of paid sick time when absence is the result of serious illness or communicable disease within the employee's immediate family or established household, or in situations that place primary responsibility for care of another individual on the employee. For purposes of sick leave usage for an absence not covered under Family and Medical Leave, serious illness means that the employee's presence is required temporarily until other arrangements can be made to provide essential care to a family member who resides at the employee's residence and who is under the care of a physician.

An eligible employee may use paid sick time upon death of family members who are not covered under Bereavement Leave. Employees may use up to three days of accrued paid sick time for this purpose and two additional days to attend or arrange funeral services out-of-state.

Family and Medical Leave

During any period of Family and Medical Leave, eligible employees must use accrued paid sick time at their full FTE rate. Employees who are absent from work for more than three (3) consecutive workdays due to a qualifying reason under Family and Medical Leave will have the period of absence credited to their Family and Medical Leave entitlement.

Eligible employees may use paid sick time as described above for situations where Family and Medical Leave does not apply.
 

Transfer/Change of Status/Rehire

Employees who are transferred from a full-benefits-eligible status to temporary, part-time, student, or other status shall retain their accrued balance of paid sick time. This balance shall be available for use upon return to regular employment status, provided there has been no break in University service.

An employee hired by the University from the ABOR office, an Arizona university, or a state agency within thirty (30) days of termination shall be credited with all unused paid sick time accumulated at time of termination, provided the termination was not the result of disciplinary action. However, if the transferred employee retired and previously received a payout of accumulated paid sick time, there will be no reinstatement. The employee is responsible for providing the employing department with documentation of his/her termination date and the accumulated paid sick time balance. The department will forward the information to Payroll for processing.

A rehired employee whose separation from the University has not exceeded twelve (12) months may be credited, at the discretion of the hiring department, with any unused paid sick time he/she had accrued prior to termination, provided the termination was not the result of disciplinary action. However, if the employee retired and previously received a payout of accumulated paid sick time, there will be no reinstatement.
 

Coordination with Disability Benefits

Paid sick time may offset short- and long-term disability (LTD) benefits. An employee must contact his/her insurance provider for any applicable coordination of benefits procedures.
 

Coordination with Workers' Compensation Benefits

Paid sick time may offset Workers’ Compensation benefits. An employee must contact Risk Management Services for application and subsequent coordination of benefit procedures.
 

Termination

No accrued paid sick time shall be paid upon separation from University service, unless the employee is eligible for Retiree Accumulated Sick Leave Payment (RASL) upon retirement or death.

General Provisions

It is the responsibility of the employee's immediate administrative supervisor or department designee to maintain an accurate record of paid sick time for each eligible employee, confirm that the employee has the requested time available, and ensure accurate designation of paid sick time used on the Employee Time Record. Eligible employees who become ill or injured during periods of approved vacation may request conversion of that time to paid sick time. Administrative supervisors are authorized to approve such requests and may request verification of illness.

If an authorized holiday falls within a period of absence caused by illness or injury, paid sick time shall not be charged for that holiday.

It is the responsibility of the employee to report medical inability to work before the start of the workday or as soon as possible thereafter. An employee who has used all available paid sick time and remains unable to work may request a leave of absence in accordance with the applicable leave of absence policy.

In the case of a work-related illness or injury the employee should report the incident to his or her immediate administrative supervisor, who must file a report with Risk Management.

When in conflict with this policy, federal policy or state laws and regulations shall apply.