Exempt Sick Time and Leave Policy

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Policy:  Exempt Sick Time and Leave Policy for Faculty and Administrative Staff

Date:  January 2021
Policy Type:  University
Contact Office:  Human Resources

Applies to: All faculty and administrative staff members of St. Lawrence University (not covered by another policy)

Guidelines & Eligibility  

The amount of time granted to be away from work due to a covered employee’s own mental or physical illness, injury, or health condition, as well as the diagnosis, care or treatment of the same, including preventative care (“Sick Time”), is unspecified for exempt employees, including faculty.  If a covered employee needs leave for other qualifying reasons (e.g. qualifying leave for family member {see below}) under New York’s Paid Sick Leave (“PSL”) law, the employee will be afforded up to 56 hours of paid time off, annually.

When an employee is absent and uses Sick Time for more than three consecutive days of work, the respective supervisor and employee must notify the Human Resources Office.   Employees seeking leave for other “qualifying PSL reasons” must provide advanced notification and self-reporting, as directed by their supervisor and/or the Human Resources Office.

Employees can also find out more information about available leave benefits, if applicable (i.e., Disability, FMLA, PSL and NYS Paid Family Leave) through the Human Resources Office. Paid leave for qualifying PSL reasons is a new benefit as of January 1, 2021 with specific eligibility guidelines.  Employees may be required to furnish appropriate documentation of their need for leave, as provided under the law. 

Under this policy, the following are considered “qualifying PSL reasons” for leave:

  1. The mental or physical illness, injury, or health condition of the employee, regardless of whether such illness, injury, or health condition has been diagnosed or requires medical care at the time that such employee requests such leave, as well as the diagnosis, care or treatment of the same, including preventative medical care;
     
  2. The mental or physical illness, injury, or health condition of an employee’s family member, regardless of whether such illness, injury, or health condition has been diagnosed or requires medical care at the time that such employee requests such leave, as well as the diagnosis, care or treatment of the same, including preventative medical care;
     
  3. An absence from work when an employee or an employee’s family member has been the victim of domestic violence, a family offense, sexual offense, stalking, or human trafficking, including leave to:

          a.  Obtain services from a domestic violence shelter, rape crisis center, or other services program;
          b.  Participate in safety planning, temporarily or permanently relocate, or take other actions to
               increase the safety of the employee or the employee’s family members;
          c.  Meet with an attorney or social services provider to obtain information and advice on, and
               prepare for and participate in, any criminal or civil proceeding
          d.  File a complaint or domestic incident report with law enforcement;
          e.  To enroll children at a new school;
          f.   Meet with a district attorney’s office; and
          g.  Take any other actions necessary to ensure the health or safety of the employee or the
               employee’s family member, or to protect those who associate or work with the employee.

(An employee who has committed domestic violence, a family or sexual offense, stalking, or human trafficking is not eligible for leave under 3(a)-(f), nor may this leave be used on behalf of an employee’s family member who has engaged in any of these acts.)

For purposes of the above policy terms, “family member” is defined as an employee’s child (including biological child, adopted child, foster child, a legal ward, or a child for whom the employee stands “in loco parentis”), spouse, domestic partner, parent (including biological parent, foster parent, step-parent, adoptive parent, legal guardian, or an individual who stood “in loco parentis” to the employee as a minor child), sibling, grandchild or grandparent, and the child or parent of an employee’s spouse or domestic partner.

Additionally, for non-faculty exempt staff, leave without pay may be requested and approved on an individual case by case basis, depending on the particular circumstances.  Employees should consult with their respective supervisor and Human Resources about these requests and potential unpaid leave options. A leave is confirmed when approved by the supervisor  and the Human Resources Office [Note:  The leave request form is available on SLU’s website].

Faculty leaves are as described in the Faculty Handbook and approved by the Vice President for Academic Affairs.

Any unused Sick Time or unused PSL time is not eligible for payout upon termination or resignation of employment for any reason, and is therefore forfeited under the terms of this policy.

The University has the right to change, modify or discontinue this policy at any time at its discretion.

Updated 4/1/2014 and 1/1/2021