Navigating Absence: A Comprehensive Guide to UCLA's Sick Day and Leave Policies

The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) recognizes the importance of supporting its employees' well-being and work-life balance. To that end, UCLA has established comprehensive policies regarding employee absences, including sick leave, family leave, and other types of leave. This article aims to provide a detailed overview of these policies, drawing primarily from official UC Personnel Policies for Staff Members (PPSM) and related resources.

Absence from Work Policy: A Consolidated Approach

The UC Office of the President has streamlined its leave provisions into a single, comprehensive policy known as "Absence from Work." This policy consolidates seven existing leave policies (PPSM 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, and 46), reflecting feedback received from staff and managers during the review process. The updated policy, effective June 1, 2010, applies to Professionals and Support Staff (PSS), Managers and Senior Professionals (MSP), and Senior Management Group members (SMG).

Key Enhancements and Improvements

The revised policy incorporates several enhancements and improvements designed to support staff work-life needs. Some key highlights include:

Expanded Sick Leave for Family Care and Bonding: Staff members can utilize up to 30 days of sick leave to care for and bond with a newborn, adopted, or foster child.
Increased Sick Leave for Family and Medical Leave: The amount of sick leave an employee can use during a Family and Medical Leave to address a serious health condition of the employee, spouse or domestic partner, a child or a parent has increased from 30 days to 12 weeks.

Read also: UCLA vs. Illinois: Basketball History
Reinstatement of Accrued Sick Leave: The policy now allows the reinstatement of accrued sick leave for re-employed staff members if the employee returns to work at UC within 90 days (previously 15 days).
Extended Bereavement Leave: The amount of sick leave that may be used in the event of the death of a family or household member has increased from 5 to 10 days.
Sick Leave for Organ Donation: Policy allows use of sick leave in order to donate bone marrow (up to 5 days) or organs for transplant (up to 30 days).
Leave for Election Officers: Employees may use vacation leave or unpaid leave to serve as an election officer on Election Day.
Clarification on Intermittent Leave: Staff may not use vacation or sick leave intermittently during an unpaid leave of absence in order to benefit from holiday pay and employer contributions to benefits that would otherwise not be provided.

Read also: Navigating Tech Breadth at UCLA
Vacation Leave Accrual: Policy language clarifies that an employee whose appointment is reduced below 50% is not eligible to accrue vacation leave.
Leaves Under California Law: A new policy section contains a variety of leaves under California Law that are offered to accommodate life event circumstances.

Sick Leave: Accrual and Usage

General Information

Refer to UC-PPSM 42 (Sick Leave), Section A and UC-PPSM 43 (Leave of Absence), Section A for general information.

Accrual

Refer to UC-PPSM 42 (Sick Leave), Section B for details on sick leave accrual. Sick leave accrual is in proportion to the percentage of time worked - full-time staff earn one eight-hour day each month (up to 12 days maximum per year) with no overall limit.

Usage

Sick leave can be used for various reasons, including:

Read also: Understanding UCLA Counselors

Employee's own illness or injury
Medical appointments
Family illness
Bereavement
Bone marrow or organ donation

Family Illness and Bereavement

The Organization Head or designee may approve individual requests for use of sick leave in excess of 30 days. The amount of sick leave that may be used in the event of the death of a family or household member is increased from 5 to 10 days.

Sick Leave Conversion Upon Retirement

Upon retirement, unused sick leave is normally converted to service credit. Refer to the University of California Retirement Plan provisions for specific details.

Transferring and Reinstating Sick Leave

Refer to UC-PPSM 42 (Sick Leave), Section E for information on transferring sick leave and Section F for reinstating sick leave. Policy now allows the reinstatement of accrued sick leave for re-employed staff members, if the employee returns to work at UC within 90 days (previously 15 days).

Family and Medical Leave (FMLA)

Policy, Length, and Eligibility

Family and Medical Leave (FMLA) provides up to twelve (12) workweeks of unpaid leave in a "leave year" for the following reasons:

An employee's own serious health condition.
The birth of a child, or care of a newborn, newly adopted child, or a new foster care placement.
The care of a spouse, child, or parent with a serious health condition.

The "leave year" begins with the commencement of the leave and is calculated on a rolling basis.

Any employee who meets the following criteria is eligible:

The employee must have at least twelve (12) months of University service. All prior service counts, regardless of any breaks in service.
The employee must have worked at least 1250 hours during the twelve (12) months immediately preceding the commencement of the leave.

Concurrent Leaves

The Organization Head or designee shall designate all paid and/or unpaid leaves (including accrued sick leave and vacation) due to medical reasons (including work-incurred) to run concurrently with, and be counted against, the employee's family medical leave entitlement, provided the employee qualifies for FMLA and receives written notice.

All leaves, whether paid or unpaid, which meet the qualifications for FMLA should be designated as Family and Medical Leave at the beginning of the leave period.

Health Benefits

Health benefits are to be continued during FMLA as if the employee is on pay status. Therefore, the University will continue to pay its portion of health benefit costs for the FMLA period only (a maximum of 12 weeks). This includes medical, dental, and optical insurance.

An employee who continues on leave beyond the initial 12 weeks of FMLA and who is qualified to receive disability benefits under the University-Paid Temporary Disability Plan is eligible for the continuation of Regents' contributions toward medical insurance. Employees should be advised to contact CHR's Benefits and Personnel Services (794-0830) to arrange to pay her/his normal portion of health benefit costs and/or to continue non-health benefits (i.e., life insurance).

Notification and Certification

Department representatives should contact their CHR Employee Relations Consultant before initiating FMLA actions to receive a Family and Medical Leave Packet.

Employee Notice and Certification (Advance Notification)

An employee is required to give thirty (30) days' advance notice if the absence is foreseeable. The employee should complete the Leave of Absence Request form.

The employee must provide his supervisor with evidence of a serious health condition from her/his health care provider or the health care provider of the ill family member.

The department should complete the Leave of Absence Request form and forward a copy to the employee indicating approval or denial of the leave.

Department Notice (No Advance Employee Notification)

If an employee has not previously requested a leave and has been absent for three days or more for personal or family illness reasons, the department must provide written notice that the leave has been provisionally designated as FMLA within two (2) working days.

If the department does not have sufficient information (e.g., no medical certification) to determine whether the leave qualifies as FMLA, provisional designation of FMLA should be made, subject to verification. The employee must provide verification from her/his health care provider (or the health care provider of the ill family member) within fifteen (15) calendar days of the request.

Reinstatement and Return to Work

The employee is entitled to reinstatement to the same or an equivalent position.

If the employee was absent for two weeks or longer because of her/his own serious health condition, a Return to Work Certification form (or doctor's release) must be completed by the employee's health care provider and returned to the supervisor upon returning to work. The supervisor may also require a doctor's release (or Return to Work Certification form) for absences of less than two weeks.

Family and Medical Leave Packet

Department representatives are advised to contact their Employee Relations consultant in CHR before initiating FMLA actions and to receive a Family and Medical Leave Packet. The packet includes:

FMLA Department Checklist
Leave of Absence Request form
Your Rights and Obligations Under the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993
Family and Medical Leave Benefits Checklist
Family and Medical Leave Certification form
Family and Medical Leave Return to Work Certification form
Record of Reduced Work/Intermittent Leave Schedule
University Contribution Indicator (UCI) form

Pregnancy Disability Leave (PDL)

As stated in UC-PPSM 43 (Leave of Absence), any female employee is eligible for up to four (4) months of leave during the time she is actually disabled and unable to perform her job due to pregnancy or childbirth, as permitted by the California Fair Employment and Housing Act.

A pregnant employee may also request temporary reassignment to a less strenuous or hazardous position upon the advice of her health care provider. If such a request can be reasonably accommodated, it must be granted.

Pregnancy Disability Leave runs concurrently with Family Medical Leave.

Supplemental Family & Medical Leave

Refer to UC-PPSM 43 (Leave of Absence), Section D.

Work-Incurred Illness & Injury Leave

Refer to UC-PPSM 43 (Leave of Absence), Section E and to the UCLA Workers' Compensation Supervisory Manual.

Personal Leave

A career employee may request, and the Organization Head or designee may grant the employee, a personal leave with or without pay for up to six months. In granting the leave, the best interests of the University, as well as the interests of the employee, shall be considered.

Personal leaves may be granted for reasons such as extended illness, need to provide care for family members, or education and professional development which will directly increase job effectiveness.

In special situations, a personal leave for temporary employment outside the University may be approved provided that the outside work is in the interest of public service and/or will be beneficial to the University upon the employee's return.

Extension of Personal Leave

Following consultation with CHR's Employee Relations Consultant, the Organization Head or designee may approve an extension of a personal leave for a total leave of not more than twelve months.

Reinstatement

An employee who has been granted a personal leave shall be reinstated to the same position or, at the department's discretion, a similar position in the same department provided that the employee returns to work immediately following termination of the leave.

Winter Holiday Curtailment

The winter holiday curtailment is a period during the winter holidays when campus service levels are dramatically reduced.

Essential Services

The responsible dean, vice chancellor, or vice provost (i.e., the organization head to whom this responsibility is delegated) will determine which services are essential and must remain open, as well as the staffing resources required.

Unpaid Days

Typically, a few working days that fall within the winter holiday curtailment period are not University paid holidays.

Options for Employees

Employees may use accrued vacation, accrued compensatory time off (if applicable), or take leave without pay (LWOP) for these unpaid days. Employees may use these options either individually or in combination. Staff should inform their supervisors in advance of the type of leave they intend to use for the four non-holidays.

These options apply to represented employees as well. Most collective bargaining agreements contain specific provisions allowing the University to provide these options to represented employees.

Probationary Employees

Policy-covered employees may use their vacation accruals during the probationary period. Exclusively during the winter holiday curtailment, represented employees may use their vacation accruals during the probationary period.

Insufficient Accrued Vacation Hours

Exclusively during the winter holiday curtailment, staff who wish to use vacation but lack sufficient hours may utilize up to four days of vacation leave in advance of accrual. Employees with accrued compensatory time off may use it to cover the days off. Leave without pay (LWOP) may also be taken.

tags: #ucla #sick #day #policy