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Human Resources Classified Staff
Policy and Procedures

POLICY

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

ELIGIBILITY

Regular Classified Staff employees are eligible and accrue paid sick leave time from the most recent date of hire into a Regular Classified Staff position. Part-Time and Temporary Classified Staff employees are not eligible for paid sick leave time benefits.

ACCRUAL

An eligible Regular Classified Staff employee accrues paid sick leave time at the rate of eight (8) hours for each month of full-time employment, calculated on a biweekly basis. Sick leave hours 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 leave time while in an unpaid status or for overtime hours worked.

REQUIREMENTS

Paid Sick Leave Time - Family and Medical Leave (see Policy 218.0 - Family Medical Leave)

During any period of Family and Medical Leave, eligible employees must use accrued paid sick leave time at their full FTE rate. Employees who are absent from work for more than three (3) consecutive work days 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 leave time as described below for situations where Family and Medical Leave does not apply.

Paid Sick Leave Time - Employee Illness/Injury

Eligible employees may be granted paid sick leave time when they are unable to perform duties because of 1) illness, injury, pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions or 2) when absent for the purpose of obtaining health-related services not available outside of regular working hours.

Paid Sick Leave Time - 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 leave time when absence is the result of serious illness or communicable disease within the employee's immediate family, established household, or in situations which place primary responsibility for care on the employee. For purposes of paid sick leave time 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 leave time upon death of family members who are not covered under University of Arizona Classified Staff HR Policy 208, Administrative Leave With Pay Policy #208.0 - Administrative Absence With Pay, #5, Bereavement. Employees may use up to three days of accrued paid sick leave time for this purpose and two additional days to attend or arrange funeral services out-of-state.

Paid Sick Leave Time - Probationary Regular Classified Staff

A Probationary Regular Classified Staff employee is eligible for may use paid sick leave time during the initial probationary period under the following conditions:

Sick leave Paid sick time is limited to the amount the employee has earned and shall be recovered from the final paycheck if the employee terminates prior to completion of the probationary period.

GENERAL PROVISIONS

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

It is the responsibility of the employee to report medical inability to work before the start of the shift or as soon as possible thereafter.

It is the responsibility of the department head or designee to maintain an accurate record of paid sick leave time for each eligible employee, confirm that the employee has the requested time available, and to ensure accurate designation of paid sick leave time used on the Employee Time Record. Eligible employees who become ill or injured and are confined by a physician during periods of approved vacation may request conversion of that time to paid sick leave time. Department heads are authorized to approve such requests based upon written verification of confinement from the physician.

It is the responsibility of the employee to report medical inability to work before the start of the shift 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.

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

An employee who has used all available sick hours and remains unable to work may request a leave of absence in accordance with the applicable leave of absence policy.

TRANSFER/CHANGE OF STATUS/REHIRE

Employees who are transferred from Regular Classified Staff status to Temporary Classified Staff, Part-Time Classified Staff, student, or other status shall retain their accrued balance of paid sick leave time. This balance shall be available for use upon return to Regular Classified Staff status, provided there has been no break in University service.

An employee hired by the University from the board office, an Arizona university or 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 OTHER BENEFITS

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

Paid sick time pay offset Worker's Compensation benefits. An employee must contact the Safety and Risk Management Department for any application coordination of benefit procedures.

TERMINATION

No accrued paid sick leave time shall be paid upon separation from University service except upon retirement. As defined by the Arizona State Retirement Program, an employee who has an accumulated balance at the time of retirement of 500 hours or more at time of retirement shall be eligible to apply for Individuals may qualify for a cash payout of their paid sick leave time. benefit over a 3 year period, in accordance with applicable provisions. (See Policy # 202.0 - Accumulated Sick Leave Payment for Retiring Regular Staff Employees). The official record of the University for determining paid sick leave time accrual balance is the Central Leave Reporting System.

Sick leave payments to employees concurrently receiving long-term disability payments, Social Security disability payments, and/or worker's compensation payments shall be made only to the extent that the total of all such payments including paid sick leave time does not exceed the employee's regular gross earnings.

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