Leave

1.300 LEAVE

1.310 Emergency Leave with Pay

All non-faculty, full-time employees earn one day of emergency leave per month. Professional librarians accrue emergency leave as well. Emergency leave may be accumulated up to a maximum of 36 days. It may be used for illness or injury which prevents an employee from performing her or his usual duties. It may also be used for:

medical appointments;
illness/death of a member of the employee's immediate family to include spouse/partner, child/step-child, parent/parent-in-law, sibling, grandparent/grandparent-in-law, grandchild. This provision may be extended to include additional family members subject to the approval of the manager and/or the Director of Human Resources;
personal leave for emergency reasons;
court attendance;
inclement weather.

See Family Leave at 1.360 for further information.

Upon retirement or resignation from the College, or the termination of employment, no compensation will be provided by the College for accumulated emergency leave.

Part-time employees (less than 1.0 FTE) are eligible for emergency leave and will receive prorated hours based on job FTE.

1.320 Jury Duty

An individual summoned to jury duty will be paid her or his full salary and benefits for a maximum of two weeks while serving on the jury. The employee will also be allowed to retain the jury duty pay she or he received while serving on the jury. The employee must provide to her or his supervisor a copy of the jury summons or a statement from the court that the individual has served on a jury. This documentation must then be forwarded to the Office of Human Resources. Time away from the job for jury duty will not count against accrued vacation or emergency leave.

1.330 Election Day Time Off for Voting

Any employee who is registered to vote and who is scheduled to work on any national or local election day during the hours the polls are open may be eligible to take a maximum of two hours of paid time off to allow the time necessary to vote. This provision is applicable for those individuals who would otherwise not have sufficient time to vote outside regular working hours.

1.340 Medical Leave

Medical leave, including maternity leave, is available when an employee is unable to perform her or his job duties because of the employee's own health condition. A physician's medical certification supporting the need for leave due to a serious health condition is required for a medical leave. A certification of fitness-for-duty is required from the physician when the employee is able to return to work. The College may require an additional medical opinion from a physician of its choice prior to allowing the employee to return to work. (See section 1.120 on Short Term Disability.)

1.350 Personal Leave without Pay

Personal leave without pay may be granted for a period of a minimum of five working days to a maximum of thirty calendar days. A written request with approval from the immediate supervisor and senior administrator is required. This request must be submitted to the Director of Human Resources at least two weeks before the requested leave is to begin. During personal leave the employee must pay her or his health and dental premiums and any other premiums which have normally been deducted from the employee's pay. If the leave is for less than one month, the employee will be responsible for paying a prorated share of the employer paid portion of her/his benefits.

1.360 Family Leave

The College will provide unpaid family leave in accordance with the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 (FMLA). Additionally, in some respects the College's policy is more generous than required by this Act. Such leave will be available for the birth or placement of a child for adoption or foster care; necessary care of a child, spouse (or partner) or parent who has a serious health condition; or when the employee's own serious health condition makes it impossible for the employee to perform her or his job. An exception may be made to this policy only if there is another closely related relative (grandparent or parent-in-law or another close relative for whom the employee has legal custody) who relies solely on the employee for her/his welfare and support. Employees who desire to use this leave are required to provide at least a thirty (30) day written notice of request when the need is foreseeable and practicable.

Family leave may be requested for up to a maximum of twelve (12) weeks during a twelve (12) month period. The employee must exhaust her or his accumulated emergency leave and accrued vacation to cover some or all of the concurrent unpaid family leave.

During this leave the College will continue to provide the employee's group health and dental insurance under the same terms as if the employee continued to work. If the employee has dependent health and/or dental coverage, the employee will continue to pay the dependent health and/or dental premiums at the same time(s) as they would ordinarily be paid if by payroll deduction.

If the employee fails to return to work after the leave is over and if the failure is due to reasons other than the serious health condition of the employee or family member or other circumstances beyond the employee's control, the College will be entitled to recover from the employee the premiums that it has paid for the employee's health and dental coverage during the leave.

There will be no accumulation of vacation or emergency leave during a period of unpaid leave.

The twelve (12) month period used by the College to calculate available leave is a "rolling" twelve month period measured forward from the date an employee returns from any family leave. All full-time employees who have worked at least 1250 hours during the previous twelve months are covered.

The benefit is available after one year of full-time employment. The employee's position with the College will be held open, whenever possible. Once an employee's leave ends, the employee is entitled either to be restored to the position held prior to the leave or to an equivalent position with equivalent benefits, pay and other terms and conditions of employment.

Leave for employees due to birth, adoption or placement of a child must be taken within a year of the event. When leave is based on a planned medical treatment, the employee, whenever practicable, should schedule the treatment so as not to disrupt unduly the College's operations.

Intermittent leave or reduced leave (part-time) is available for the birth, adoption or placement of a child only if the College and the employee agree to such an arrangement. In all other cases, it is available only when medically necessary. If intermittent or reduced leave is foreseeable, the College may require that the employee transfer temporarily to an alternative position. The alternative position will have equivalent pay and benefits and will better accommodate the recurring periods of leave than the employee's regular position.

In the event of a serious health condition of the employee or his or her child, spouse (partner) or parent, the College may require medical certification from a health care provider to support a request for leave. An exception may be made to this policy only if there is another closely-related relative (grandparent or parent-in-law or another close relative for whom the employee has legal custody) who relies solely on the employee for her/his welfare and support. The leave will be denied if the employee does not submit the necessary certification. The College may, at its option, require and pay for a second opinion from an independent health care provider. If the second opinion differs from the first, the College and the employee can agree on a physician to provide a third opinion, at the College's expense. The third opinion will be binding. Also, the College can require that an employee on leave provide subsequent recertifications on a reasonable basis and report periodically on the status and intention of the employee to return to work.

If the leave is due to the employee's own illness, the employee must provide a medical certification from the physician that she or he is fit to return to work before she or he is reinstated.

Where both spouses/partners are employed by the College, they will be jointly entitled to a combined total of twelve weeks of family leave for the birth or placement of a child for adoption or foster care, and to care for a parent or other close relative as defined above who has a serious health condition.

Employees who fail to return to work following a leave of absence may be held liable for reimbursement of both employees' employer paid health and dental premiums during the leave.

1.370 Administrative Staff and Professional Librarian Study Leave

Recognizing that administrative staff and professional librarians need periodic occasions for strengthening academic and professional resources that are essential to effective work, a policy of eligibility for study leaves has been established for these groups. Specifically, this includes the professional library staff and the professional administrative staff (exempt employees). The length of leaves will depend on the required adjustment of responsibilities and the character of the study leave proposal, but will not exceed the equivalent of one semester.

Leave proposals may be considered following a minimum of six years of full-time service to the College in a professional capacity. They are granted by the President, on the basis of written proposals submitted during the fall term of the academic year prior to that for which the leave is requested. Such proposals should be submitted to the department head by September 1, and to the senior administrator by September 10. The proposal should include the time and duration of the requested leave, a description of the intended activities and their potential contribution to areas of professional importance and individual growth, and a recommendation for coverage of the regular work assignments of the individual requesting the leave. At the end of the leave a written evaluation of the progress of activities during the leave, plus copies of any writings or professional programs developed during the leave, shall be submitted to the senior administrator.

Administrative leaves are granted for a period equivalent to one semester with full compensation. Recipients will continue to be covered under the benefit plan to include continued accrual of emergency leave and vacation during the leave period.

Whenever possible, work allocations should be adjusted internally in order to sustain the activities and responsibilities of the person on leave. It is recognized that in some cases this will add a modest additional burden to colleagues within the College, but these individuals may be afforded the same opportunity at another time.

Leaves may be requested during the sixth year and awarded in the seventh year of continuous full-time service to the College in a professional capacity. After a study leave, another period of at least six years must elapse before another leave can be taken.

Individuals granted study leaves are legally obligated to return to the College for at least twelve months in a full-time capacity. Should the recipient choose to leave the College within one year following the study leave, repayment of the monies advanced during the leave will be required to include salary and benefits and other monies such as travel advances and other general expenses paid for or advanced to the administrator or professional library staff member during the leave.