PERSONNEL
COMPENSATION AND BENEFITS
ABSENCES AND LEAVES
Procedure
GENERAL PROVISIONS
College District employees shall be eligible to receive paid and unpaid leave in accordance with College District policies and related procedures. Leave is not automatically granted. Requests for leave shall be appropriately documented, timely and properly approved. Approval shall be based both on the justification of the leave, the impact of such leave on the work unit and the College District, and other factors as appropriate.
Employees shall not lose any accumulated leave while on authorized unpaid leave of absence. Additional leave shall not accrue during unpaid leave of absence. During FMLA leave while the employee is in pay status and during other paid leaves of absence, leave time shall continue to accrue at the normal rate.
During a period of unpaid, non-FMLA leave of absence, an employee may elect to continue insurance coverage by arranging to pay the full premium. Insurance and retirement coverage currently paid by the College District will continue uninterrupted for an employee on paid leave or FMLA Leave.
Except for sick leave and bereavement leave, requests for leave must be submitted and approved in advance on the official Authorized Absence form provided by the College District.
Unauthorized absences are a serious violation of College District procedure. Failure to comply with the provisions of the College District’s leave policies and procedures may result in the recording of unauthorized absences, loss of pay, and other actions up to and including termination of employment.
Employees are responsible for notifying their supervisors when absent from work and for submitting appropriate leave request forms.
VACATION LEAVE
Vacation leave with compensation shall be available for regular, full-time College District employees, other than faculty and athletic services contract employees.
Full-time faculty members receive time off in accordance with the College calendar of authorized holidays and time as designated between semesters. Thus, they do not accrue vacation time. Any exceptions to this procedure will be made under the discretion of the District President.
Employees may not take more vacation time than their available vacation leave balance.
Employees who transfer to positions in which annual vacation leave benefits do not accrue shall be paid for all unused vacation at the pay rate effective immediately prior to their transfer dates. The College District reserves the right to require that persons employed with restricted funds, prior to the end of their service under the grant, either use their vacation time or be paid for accrued vacation time.
HOLIDAY LEAVE
To be eligible to receive pay for holiday leave, employees must be employed during the holiday period. Leaves for the weeks prior to and following the holiday will be granted contingent upon the supervisor’s judgment that such leave would not adversely impact the unit’s performance. Employees on unpaid leave are not eligible for holiday pay.
SICK LEAVE
Sick leave with regular compensation may be used for personal illnesses, injury, or other health-related conditions, or for illness or injury of the employee’s immediate family. For the purpose of this procedure, immediate family means father, mother, sister, brother, son, daughter, spouse, father-in-law, mother-in-law, son-in-law, daughter-in-law, brother-in-law, sister-in-law, grandparents (spouse’s included), and grandchildren. It also includes any other family member living in the household of the employee or any of the above relationships in a “step” capacity.
Sick leave benefits are provided solely to provide income protection for the events described above, and may not be used for any other absence except as allowed under this procedure for bereavement (see “Bereavement Leave”).
Employees who are unable to report to work due to illness or injury shall notify their immediate supervisors within one hour of the start of their regularly scheduled workday unless they cannot due to circumstances beyond their control. Lack of a telephone is not a valid reason for failure to report an absence. Absent employees shall also contact their supervisors on each additional day of absence.
Employees on faculty contracts accrue sick leave at a rate based on an 8-hour workday; therefore, when faculty members are absent for an entire day, they must use 8 hours of sick leave to cover the absence.
If an employee is absent for five or more consecutive days due to illness or injury, a physician’s statement shall be provided verifying the illness; its beginning and expected ending dates, and certifying that the employee may safely return to duty. Such verification may also be requested for other sick leave absences and may be required as a condition to receiving sick leave benefits.
Employees shall report on-the-job injuries and direct manifestations of occupational diseases to their supervisors immediately and complete a report of injury. Supervisors are to immediately report such injuries to Human Resources.
Employees on leave for workers’ compensation due to job-related injuries or illnesses will be placed on FMLA Leave if applicable.
A return to work certification from a medical professional can be requested at any time after a sick leave absence greater than 5 working days.
PERSONAL LEAVE
Up to 32 hours paid leave may be granted annually according to the College’s fiscal year for personal leave. Such leave will be charged against the employee’s sick leave accruals.
BEREAVEMENT LEAVE
Up to 24 hours paid leave may be granted when a death occurs in the immediate family of a College District employee for the attendance of services, making of arrangements, for the settlement of the estate, or other legal matters. Bereavement leave may be used for the two weeks after the death of the immediate family member. Approval for the use of Bereavement Leave outside of the 2 weeks may be requested from Human Resources. For the purpose of bereavement leave, immediate family means father, mother, sister, brother, son, daughter, spouse, father-in-law, mother-in-law, son-in-law, daughter-in-law, brother-in-law, sister-in-law, grandparents (spouse’s included), and grandchildren. It also includes any other family member living in the household of the employee or any of the above relationships in a “step” capacity.
In the event that an employee must take bereavement leave, the employee shall notify the College District as soon as possible after learning of the need for leave.
In the event of the death of a friend or a more distant relative, employees may use up to 24 hours of sick leave.
If additional time is needed during the time of bereavement, other accrued leaves may be utilized.
MILITARY LEAVE
For military leave, the employee shall submit a leave request form with a copy of the official military orders placing the employee on active duty status at least five (5) work days before the beginning date of active duty status.
During military leave, employees may have certain rights to continue participation in the Employee Healthcare Plan as provided by law.
When an employee returns from military leave (depending on the length of military service in accordance with USERRA), the employee will be placed either in the position he or she would have attained if he or she had remained continuously employed or in a comparable position. For the purpose of determining benefits that are based on length of service, the employee will be treated as if he or she had been continuously employed.
UNPAID LEAVE
Full-time College District employees may be granted unpaid leaves of absence for a variety of reasons provided such requests are thoroughly documented, timely, meet eligibility requirements, and are reviewed and approved in advance through regular channels. Requests will then be forwarded to the Vice President for Human Resources with appropriate recommendation for review and disposition.
Employees shall not lose any accumulated leave while on authorized unpaid leave of absence, nor shall any additional leave accrue during such leave of absence. Employees on unpaid leave are not eligible for for holiday pay.
Unpaid leave is not automatically granted. The decision will be based both upon the justification of need for such leave and upon the strength of assurance that such leave will not cause undue disruption of work in the employee’s area of responsibility.
RELIGIOUS HOLY DAYS
Any College District employee may be absent from work for observance of a religious holiday and must provide proper notification, in advance, to the immediate supervisor. This shall be taken as paid leave by utilizing personal leave or accrued vacation or unpaid leave if paid leave is not available.
ADMINISTRATIVE LEAVE
The College District may place an employee on administrative leave pending the results of an investigation or to protect the safety of the employee and/or others. Administrative leave may be paid or unpaid. The placement of an employee on administrative leave, length of leave, paid or unpaid status, and other conditions of administrative leave are at the discretion of the College District and must be approved by the Vice President for Human Resources.
FAMILY MEDICAL LEAVE ACT (FMLA)
After five (5) consecutive days of sick leave the College will place an employee on FMLA leave in accordance with federal law and guidelines, as applicable. It is the responsibility of the supervisor to alert Human Resources that they have had an employee absent on sick leave for five (5) consecutive days.
JURY DUTY
When summoned for jury duty, an employee shall present the jury summons to their departmental supervisor as soon as possible for planning purposes. Once the employee has completed their service to the court, they should request a work excuse. The work excuse shall be submitted to Payroll attached to the Absence Request form. If the court dismisses the employee at the time allowing them to return to their work station with an hour or more left in the work day, the employee is expected to return to work.
As an encouragement to fulfill civic duty, the College allows employees to keep any remuneration given by the court for which they served.
Updated: January 26, 2021
