Learn more about regarding paid sick leave, effective January 1, 2021.

This article applies to all University of Denver employees.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

• Paid Sick Leave
• Recording Time
• Allowable Reasons for Paid Sick Leave
• Documentation
• Reinstatement of Paid Sick Leave
• Retaliation
• Benefited Employees
• Non-Benefited Sick Leave Policy
• Public Health Emergency

Paid Sick Leave

Sick leave begins accruing upon the first day worked, and it may be taken as it accrues. Sick leave accruals stop once the maximum amount has been reached and will resume when the leave balance falls below the maximum amount. 

Recording Time

All employees shall record any paid sick leave that they use.

• Benefited non-exempt/hourly staff and non-benefited hourly employees can report sick leave in 15-minute increments. An employee should reach out to the supervisor to have them enter the hours onto their timecard in PioneerTime.
• Benefited exempt staff (paid monthly) report sick leave in ½-day increments and shall record the time in PioneerTime. 
• Other employees exempt from overtime (adjuncts, GXA, etc.) should refer to University Financial Services on how to record any paid sick leave directly in MyDU.

The University reserves the right to request medical certification whenever there are concerns of excessive absenteeism due to illness. 

Allowable Reasons for Paid Sick Leave

Sick leave can be used for the following, an employee:

1. Has a mental or physical illness, injury, or health condition that prevents the employee from working
2. Needs to obtain a medical diagnosis, care, or treatment of a mental or physical illness, injury, or health condition
3. Needs to obtain preventive medical care
4. The employee needs to care for a family member who:
   • Has a mental or physical illness, injury, or health condition 
   • Needs to obtain a medical diagnosis, care, or treatment of a mental or physical illness, injury, or health condition
   • Needs to obtain preventive medical care
5. The employee or the employee's family member has been the victim of domestic abuse, sexual assault, or harassment and the use of leave is to: 
   • Seek medical attention for the employee or the employee's family member to recover from a mental or physical illness, injury, or health condition caused by the domestic abuse, sexual assault, or harassment
   • Obtain services from a victim services organization
   • Obtain mental health or other counseling
   • Seek relocation due to the domestic abuse, sexual assault, or harassment
   • Seek legal services, including preparation for or participation in a civil or criminal proceeding relating to or resulting from the domestic abuse, sexual assault, or harassment

Documentation

Absences longer than four days will require the employee to provide documentation that the purpose of the sick leave is for the purposes outlined in this policy. 

Supervisors shall allow an employee to use paid sick leave upon the request of an employee. The request may be made orally, in writing, electronically, or by any other means acceptable to their supervisor. When possible, the employee shall include the expected duration of the absence. If the use of paid sick leave is foreseeable, the employee should provide as much notice as possible to their supervisor. The University shall not deny paid sick leave to the employee based on a lack of notice.

Unused paid sick leave is not paid out to an employee upon termination, resignation, retirement, or other separation from employment.

Reinstatement of Paid Sick Leave

If an employee separates from the University and is rehired within six months after the separation, the University shall reinstate any paid sick leave that the employee had accrued but not used during their previous employment with the University, up to a maximum of 48 hours. 

Retaliation

DU has zero tolerance for retaliation against an employee for requesting and using paid sick leave. Employees have the right to file a complaint or bring a civil action if paid sick leave is denied by their supervisor or the employee is retaliated against for using their sick leave. Please consult with your Human Resources Partner if you feel that you are being retaliated against for using paid sick leave.

Benefited Employees

Benefited employees accrue one sick day per month, with a maximum of six months of leave. Benefited employees shall report their need for an absence to their immediate supervisor as soon as possible. Employees who anticipate being absent or who have been absent for three or more consecutive workdays must also notify Human Resources-Benefits. HRIC Benefits Team will determine if the leave taken is covered under the Family and Medical Leave Act. Employees who are on paid leave continue to accrue sick hours.

Non-Benefited Sick Leave Policy

Each non-benefited employee earns at least one hour of paid sick leave for every thirty hours worked by the employee. A non-benefited employee cannot use more than forty-eight hours of paid sick leave each calendar year.

Non-benefited employees cannot accrue more than forty-eight hours of paid sick leave. The maximum number of paid sick hours allowed for an employee to use in one calendar year is forty-eight hours.

Absences longer than four days will require the employee to provide documentation that the purpose of the sick leave is for the purposes outlined above.

Public Health Emergency

Employees may also use leave due to a public health emergency, where a public official has ordered the closure of: 

1. The University, or
2. The school or place of care of the employee's child and the employee needs to be absent from work to care for the employee's child. 

On the date a public health emergency is declared, the University will supplement each employee's accrued paid sick leave as necessary to ensure that an employee may take the following amounts of paid sick leave for the purposes below.

1. For full time employees who normally work:       
   • Thirty-seven and a half hours in a week, at least 75 hours
   • Forty or more hours in a week, at least eighty hours 
2. For employees who are not full time, they will be granted at least the greater of either the amount of time they are scheduled to work in a fourteen-day period or the amount of time the employee actually works on average in a fourteen-day period. 

The University will count an employee's unused accrued paid sick leave toward the supplemental paid sick leave required in this section. An employee may use paid sick leave under this section until four weeks after the official termination or suspension of the public health emergency. Public health emergency supplement leave can be used for the following:

1. An employee's need to take the following actions due to the cause of the public health emergency:
   1. self-isolate and care for oneself because the employee is diagnosed with a communicable illness
   2. self-isolate and care for oneself because the employee is experiencing symptoms of a communicable illness
   3. seek or obtain medical diagnosis, care, or treatment if experiencing symptoms of a communicable illness
   4. seek preventive care concerning a communicable illness, or 
2. Care for a family member who due to the cause of the public health emergency:
   1. is self-isolating after being diagnosed with a communicable illness
   2. is self-isolating due to experiencing symptoms of a communicable illness
   3. needs medical diagnosis, care, or treatment if experiencing symptoms of a communicable illness, or
   4. is seeking preventive care concerning a communicable illness 
3. Care of a child or other family member when the employee’s childcare provider is unavailable due to a public health emergency, or if the child's or family member's school or place of care has been closed by a local, state, or federal public official or at the discretion of the school or place of care due to a public health emergency, including if a school or place of care is physically closed but providing instruction remotely.
4. An employee's inability to work because the employee has a health condition that may increase susceptibility to or risk of a communicable illness that is the cause of the public health emergency. 
5. Employees shall notify their supervisor of the need for paid sick leave under the public health emergency criteria as soon as practicable when the need for paid sick leave is foreseeable and University has not been closed.
   1. documentation is not required to take paid sick leave under the public health emergency criteria; and 
   2. non-benefited employees are only eligible for paid sick leave in the amount described above once during the entirety of a public health emergency even if such public health emergency is amended, extended, restated, or prolonged.
   3. Benefited employees have a maximum of 80 hours or 75 depending on their full-time schedule. If a benefited employee needs additional time they should discuss their options for coverage under the Family Medical Leave Act with the Human Resources .

With respect to a communicable illness that is the cause of a public health emergency: 

1. Local, state, or federal public official or health authority having jurisdiction  over the location in which the employee's place of employment is located or the University determines that the employee's presence on the job or in the community would jeopardize the health of others because of the employee's exposure to the communicable illness or because the employee is exhibiting symptoms of the communicable illness, regardless of whether the employee has been diagnosed with the communicable illness; or
2. The care of a family member after a local, state, or federal public official or health authority having jurisdiction over the location in which the family  member's  place of employment is located or the family  member's employer determines that the family member's presence on the job or in the community would jeopardize the health of others because of the family member's exposure to the communicable illness or because the family member is exhibiting symptoms of the communicable illness, regardless of whether the family member has been diagnosed with the communicable illness.