Leaves of Absence, WSU Wright Way Policy 4203

Effective August 5, 1993, all faculty, unclassified staff, classified staff, and junior resident instructors are eligible for family and medical leave.

Family and medical leave may be used for:

the care of the employee's child in the year after birth, adoption, or placement for foster care.

an employee's serious health condition that makes the employee unable to perform his/her usual duties.

the care of one of the following family members who has a serious health condition: spouse, child, parent or legal guardian or person who stands in place of the parent, parent-in-law, grandparent, grandchild, brother, brother-in-law, sister, sister-in-law, or registered domestic partner.

A serious health condition is defined as one which involves inpatient care in a hospital, hospice, or residential medical care facility or one which involves continuing treatment by a health care provider or one which makes an individual unable to perform his/her usual duties or attend classes, etc., for more than three days.

Provisions of Family and Medical Leave

Family and medical leave is provided for the employee for up to a maximum of twelve weeks for all leaves [as described in section 4203.1 b.] in a twelve-month period. When the employee and the employee's spouse are both employed by the university, each employee is eligible for a twelve-week leave period.

The amount of family and medical leave for which the employee may be approved cannot exceed that for which the employee would normally be scheduled to work in a twelve-week period, e.g., the employee who is scheduled to work 32 hours per week is eligible for leave up to 384 hours (12 weeks x 32 hours).

The twelve-month period during which the employee may use up to twelve weeks of leave begins on the first day of the leave and extends through twelve months. Family leave for the birth, adoption, or placement for foster care of a child can be used at any time within the twelve months after the birth, adoption, or placement but must be completed within twelve months of the date of the birth, adoption, or placement.

Family and medical leave may be used on a continuous basis, an intermittent basis, or as a reduced work schedule. A request for a continuous leave which is supported by the appropriate documentation will be approved. A request with appropriate documentation for an intermittent leave , e.g., in seperate blocks of time, or a reduced work schedule, e.g., a reduction in the number of hours worked each week, when medically necessary for the serious health condition of the employee or the employee's family members will be approved. A request for an intermittent leave or a reduced work schedule in the year following the birth, adoption, or placement for foster care of a child may be, but is not required to be, approved by the university.

Family and medical leave is unpaid leave unless the employee has accrued sick leave and/or vacation hours which he/she is eligible to use for the purpose of the leave. Such sick leave and/or vacation hours must be used on a continuous basis at the beginning of a family and medical leave.

Continuation of Benefits

During a family and medical leave, the employee who has medical and dental coverages and/or Health Care Flexible Spending account coverage is eligible to continue the coverages.

During the period of an unpaid family and medical leave, the employee is entitled to continue other employee benefits such as term life insurance and long-term disability coverage. To continue term life insurance and long-term disability coverage, the employee must pay to the university the premium for such coverages.

During the period of an unpaid family and medical leave, the employee will not accrue sick leave or vacation hours or receive holiday pay.

Return to Work at the End of Family and Medical Leave

The employee is guaranteed to be reinstated to the same or an equivalent position at the university at the end of a family and medical leave,

When the employee who has elected not to continue one or more of medical and dental insurance, Health Care Flexible Spending benefits, term life insurance and accidental death and dismemberment coverage, and long-term disability coverage during a family and medical leave returns to work after the leave, those benefits will be restored to the level of coverage available at the time the leave began.

Application for Family and Medical Leave

Approval of a request for family and medical leave is made by the Department of Human Resources following submission of a Family and Medical Leave Request form through the employee's supervisor or designee. When a request for family and medical leave is for a serious health condition of the employee or another eligible family member, the Family and Medical Leave Request form must be accompanied by a completed Certification of Physician or Practitioner for Leave Under the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 form. The employee is required to provide 30 days of advance notice when a leave is foreseeable. The employee may also be required to provide a second or third medical opinion (at the university's expense) to confirm the need for a leave. When the employee returns from an approved family and medical leave due to a serious health condition, the employee may be required to submit to a fitness for duty examination.

Copies of the Family and Medical Leave Request form, the Certification of Physician or Practitioner for Leave Under the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 form, and a summary of the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 are available from the Department of Human Resources.

A disability leave is defined as an unpaid leave granted or required by the university for medical reasons after the employee has exhausted all accrued sick leave. The employee may also exhaust all vacation leave before going on unpaid disability leave, if the employee so desires.

A maternity leave is a disability leave and is subject to the same rules that govern all other disability leaves.

A disability leave may be granted for periods of up to six months and may be extended by increments of up to six months to a total of one year.

During a period of disability leave, the university shall not pay salary or wages or contribute toward retirement benefits or provide for the accumulation of sick leave or vacation leave.

An employee on unpaid disability leave may continue medical and dental coverages and/or Health Care Flexible Spending benefits by making employee premium contributions to the university. In addition, the employee may pay to the university the premium for term life insurance and long-term disability coverage.

Disability leave is granted by the appointing authority contingent upon a written statement from the employee's attending physician or the university's physician that the employee is disabled and prevented from performing his/her usual duties. The employee's accumulated sick leave shall be exhausted before disability leave is approved. At the employee's discretion, vacation leave also may be exhausted before the beginning of an unpaid disability leave. The employee may not be paid for vacation hours during an unpaid disability leave. If the employee is hospitalized or institutionalized upon expiration of accumulated sick leave, the disability leave may be given without examination.

When a supervisor has reason to believe that the employee is unable to fulfill his/her usual duties by reason of disability, the supervisor may make a request to the appointing authority that the employee undergo a physical examination at the expense of the university. If the physical examination verifies the inability of the employee to fulfill his/her usual and customary responsibilities, the university will place the employee on disability leave upon exhaustion of all accrued sick leave. The employee may also exhaust all vacation leave before going on unpaid disability leave, if the employee so desires.

The university may require that the employee on an approved disability leave undergo periodic physical examinations at the expense of the university to determine the employee's fitness to return to his/her usual duties or to remain on disability leave.

The employee may return to work only by submission of a certificate from the attending physician verifying that the employee is physically able to resume his/her usual duties.

Leave without pay may be granted for personal or educational reasons to faculty, unclassified staff, or classified staff.

Personal leave. Leave without pay may be granted for personal reasons for a maximum duration of six months and may not be renewed or extended.

Educational leave. Leave without pay may be granted for purposes of education for a period of up to six months and may be extended by six-month increments up to a period of two years.

During a personal or educational leave, the university shall not pay salary or wages or contribute to insurance or retirement benefits or provide for the accumulation of sick leave or vacation leave. However, an employee on a personal or educational leave may continue insurance benefits and Health Care Flexible Spending account coverages by paying to the university the premium for those coverages.

Request for personal or educational leave, stating the reason and dates for which the leave is being requested, shall be in writing and shall be submitted to the employee's supervisor. The supervisor will forward the request with his/her recommendation to the appropriate authority for approval.

A personal or educational leave for faculty and unclassified staff must be approved by the president or his/her designated representative. The appointing authority may grant such a leave of absence to classified staff.

Professional development leaves with pay may be granted to faculty and salaried unclassified staff for planned programs of education, research, study, creative activity, or other undertakings of benefit to the individual and the university. A professional leave may not be used to work toward a degree.

An appointing authority shall grant court leave with full pay to any employee who:

is summoned for jury duty by any court of competent jurisdiction; or,

is subpoenaed to appear before any court, commission, board, or other legally constituted body authorized by law to compel the attendance of witnesses, where the employee is not a party to the action.

Any compensation or reimbursement for jury duty or for court attendance compelled by subpoena, when such duty is performed during the employee's normal working hours, shall be remitted to Wright State University.

Any employee who is appearing before a court or other legally constituted body in which he/she is a party may be granted vacation leave or leave of absence without pay.

The employee who is the appellant in any action before the state personnel board of review and is in active pay status at the time of a scheduled hearing before the board shall be granted court leave with full pay for purposes of attending the hearing.

With Pay

The employee who is a member of the Ohio National Guard, the Ohio Military Reserve, or a reserve component of the United States Armed Forces is eligible for a leave of absence with pay for field training or active duty not to exceed 31 calendar days per calendar year. The employee shall submit to his/her director or department chair a copy of the orders or other written proof as evidence of the call to duty. The maximum number of hours for which payment may be made in any one calendar year is 176 hours.

When the period of military service is less than 31 days, the employee must report to the university not later than the beginning of the first full regularly scheduled work period, after a period allowing for safe transportation from place of service to residence.

Without Pay

The employee who has held a position for at least 90 days shall be granted an unpaid leave of absence to be inducted into or to enter military service. The employee shall give advance written or verbal notice to his/her director or department chair of the absence for military service, unless giving of such notice is precluded by military necessity or is otherwise impossible or unreasonable.

The employee who leaves a job for military service is entitled to return to a job of similar seniority, status, and pay, regardless of the timing, frequency, duration, or nature of services, provided the service limitations and notice requirements as described in paragraph 4, 5, 6, and 7 below are met.

If the period of military service was more than 30 days but less than 181 days, the employee must apply for reemployment not later than 14 days after military service is completed, or the next full calendar day when such application becomes possible.

If the period of military service was greater than 180 days, the employee must apply for reemployment not later than 90 days after service is completed.

If it is impossible or unreasonable for the employee to apply for reinstatement within the prescribed period through no fault of the employee, he/she is allowed to report as soon as possible following the period. This situation will not cause the employee to forfeit his/her reemployment rights, but does subject the employee to the rules of conduct, established policy, and general practices of the university pertaining to explanations and discipline with respect to absence from scheduled work.

Five years shall be the cumulative amount of military service allowed for military leave without pay. Basically, most types of service are counted toward this limit. Exceptions include active duty during a war or declared national emergency or active duty in support of a critical mission.

During reemployment following a military leave without pay, protection against discharge without cause shall be as follows:

a.) one year of protection if the period of service was more than 180 days;

b.) six months of protection if the period of service was between 30 days and 181 days; and,

c.) no protected period if the period of service was less than 31 days.

Upon completion of a leave of absence, the employee shall be returned to his/her position or a similar position. The employee may be returned to active pay status prior to the originally scheduled expiration of the leave at a date mutually acceptable to the employee and the university. Classified staff may return prior to the previously scheduled date by submitting a written notification to the Department of Human Resources 30 days prior to the intended early return.

The employee who fails to return to his/her usual duties following the expiration of an approved leave may be terminated from employment at the university.

Wright State University