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Policy

Sick leave is granted to employees who are in pay status for one half or more of the regularly scheduled workdays and holidays in the pay period.

Covered Employees and Sick Leave Credits

Full-time permanent, probationary, trainee and time-limited employees are eligible for leave at the rate of 8 hours per month (96 hours per year). 

Part-time (half-time or more) permanent, probationary, trainee and time-limited employees are eligible for leave at a prorated amount. 

Temporary, intermittent, and part-time (less than half-time) are not eligible for leave.

Accumulation

Sick leave is cumulative indefinitely.

Advancement

The appointing authority may advance sick leave not to exceed the amount an employee can accumulate during the current calendar year.

Verification

To avoid abuse of sick leave privileges, a statement from a medical doctor or other acceptable proof may be required. Evidence to support leave for adoption-related purposes may be required.

Leave Charges

Sick leave shall be taken and charged in units of time appropriate and consistent with the responsibility of managing absences in keeping with operational needs. Only scheduled work time shall be charged in calculating the amount of leave taken.

Benefits Continue

When exhausting leave an employee continues to accumulate leave, is entitled to holidays and is eligible for salary increases during that period.

Sick Leave Transferable

When employee transfers from…	THEN, sick leave…
State SPA to SPA	shall be transferred.
State SPA to EPA	may be transferred subject to the receiving agency’s approval.  If EPA is non-leave earning, sick leave may be transferred and held for future use should employee transfer back to SPA or it may be applicable toward retirement.
State EPA to SPA	may be transferred subject to the receiving agency’s approval.
State agency to Public school Community College Technical Institute Local Mental Health Local Public Health Local Social Services Local Emergency Management	may be transferred subject to the receiving agency’s approval.
A local agency listed above to a State agency	may be transferred subject to the receiving agency’s approval.

Uses of Sick Leave

Sick leave may be used for:

1. illness or injury,
2. medical appointments,
3. temporary disability due to childbirth,
4. to care for member of immediate family (including care for mother during temporary disability),
5. death in immediate family,
6. donations to a member of the immediate family who is an approved voluntary shared leave recipient, and
7. adoption of a child, limited to a maximum of 30 days for each parent (which is equivalent to a biological mother’s average period of disability) Note:  This is interpreted to mean at the time of physical possession of the child and have either adopted or are in the process of adoption.

Definition of Immediate Family
Spouse	Parent (Mother/ Father)	Child (Daughter/ Son)	Brother/ Sister	Grand/ Great	Dependents
Husband Wife	Biological Adoptive Step Loco Parentis* In-law	Biological Adoptive Foster Step Legal Ward Loco Parentis* In-law	Biological Adoptive Step Half In-law	Parent Child Step In-law	Living in the employee's household
*A person who is in the position or place of a parent

Leave Without Pay for Extended Illness

If an employee, or the employee’s child, parent or spouse, has a serious illness that qualifies under the Family and Medical Leave Act, the provisions of that policy shall be followed. (The FMLA Policy follows the Sick Leave Policy in this Manual.)

If the illness does not qualify for the FMLA, the provisions of the Leave without Pay Policy shall be followed. (The Leave without Pay Policy is located at the end of this Section in this Manual.)

How to handle sick leave upon separation and reinstatement
	Unused Sick leave shall:		Unused Sick leave may:
Separation	not be paid in terminal leave, be entered on PD-105 separation, and be deducted from final salary check in one-tenth hour units if overdrawn. (See exceptions for exhausting sick leave below.)		be applied toward retirement if    eligible to retire within five years. See Retirement Credit below.
Reinstatement	be reinstated when employee returns from authorized leave without pay, and be reinstated when employee returns within five years from any type of separation.		be reinstated when an employee returns to State employment within five years from SPA employment with a local government*, public school, community college, or technical institute.
*Social Services, Mental Health, Public Health, and Emergency Management

Exceptions:

1. If an employee is exhausting approved sick/vacation leave for medical reasons and resigns or dies before returning to work, the date separated shall be the date the employee resigns or dies. This is subject to the approval of the Agency HR office, 
2. If an employee gives notice of a resignation and becomes ill, the employee may exhaust sick/vacation leave up until the date of the resignation. The date separated will be the date of resignation. This is subject to the approval of the Agency HR office.

Retirement Credit

One month of credit is allowed for each 20 days, or any portion thereof, of sick leave to an employee’s credit upon retirement.

Sick Leave Records

Agencies shall:

• maintain annual records of sick leave for each employee,
• balance leave records at least at the end of each calendar year;
• notify employees of leave balances at least once each year, and
• retain leave records for all separated employees for a period of at least five years from date of separation.