Sick Leave

On this page:

• Eligibility and Accrual Rates
• Legitimate Uses of Sick Leave
• Transfer of Accrued Sick Leave
• Retirement or Death Payment of Sick Leave

Eligibility and Accrual Rates

• Fiscal faculty, academic faculty, and unclassified exempt staff, who are appointed to 100 percent full-time equivalency (FTE), earn 10 hours (1.25 days) of sick leave per month of employment. Unclassified non-exempt employees appointed to 100 percent FTE earn 4.62 hours of sick leave per bi-weekly pay period. Personnel in these categories appointed on less than 100 percent FTE contracts earn sick leave on a prorated basis.
  
  Fiscal and academic faculty and unclassified exempt staff who are employed for a partial month either at the beginning or termination of employment or who work a partial month because of unpaid leave status will accrue sick leave prorated on the basis of actual days worked during that month.
   
• Classified non–exempt staff earn 4.6 hours of sick leave for every 80 hours in active pay status.
   
• There is no limit to the amount of sick leave an employee may accrue.
   
• Sick leave accrual is not credited to the employee or available for use until after the pay period in which it is earned has been completed. An employee who wishes to use sick leave during a given pay period, but has not earned that sick leave until the end of that pay period, will not be paid for sick leave hours taken and may be considered to be in an unauthorized, unpaid leave status. Employees in unauthorized, unpaid leave status will be considered to have abandoned their job and be subject to progressive disciplinary action up to and including termination.
   

Legitimate Uses of Sick Leave

• Sick leave may not be approved or used instead of vacation leave. Sick leave may be requested and granted only for the following reasons:
   
  • Illness/injury of the employee or a member of the employee's immediate family that requires the attendance of the employee. The university may require a physician's statement certifying that the employee's attendance was required. The immediate family normally includes spouse, grandparents, father, father-in-law, mother, mother-in-law, child, daughter-in-law, son-in-law, brother, brother-in-law, sister, sister-in-law, grandchild, a legal guardian or person who stands in place of the parent, and a registered domestic partner.
    
    A domestic partnership is defined as a committed relationship between two adults, regardless of gender, who are domiciled together. A signed affidavit describing the characteristics of a domestic relationship must be on file in the Department of Human Resources prior to the use of sick leave.
     
  • Exposure of the employee to a contagious disease could be communicated to and jeopardize the health of other employees. Such a request for sick leave must be reported immediately to the Leave and Disability Coordinator in the Department of Human Resources for approval. This notice must include proof of both exposure and potential contagion.
     
  • Medical, psychological, dental, or optical examination of the employee or a member of the employee's immediate family that requires the attendance of the employee. When the appointment requires the attendance or the full-day absence of the employee, the university may require proof of the required attendance of the employee or the full-day absence. Employees must communicate with their supervisors to schedule planned medical appointments in a manner that minimizes departmental disruption due to the absence.
     
  • Death of a member of the employee's immediate family. Paid absence is limited to five days. Supervisors may require reasonable proof to justify the use of sick leave for the purpose of bereavement.
     
• Sick leave with pay may be requested and approved only for leave already earned. Except for qualifying Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) absences, employees may not be in an unauthorized, unpaid leave status. Employees in unauthorized, unpaid leave status will be considered to have abandoned their job and will be subject to progressive disciplinary action up to and including termination.
   
• Sick leave payment may not exceed scheduled earnings and may only be charged for days the employee is normally scheduled to work.
   

Transfer of Accrued Sick Leave

When a new employee has qualifying prior service with another Ohio State Agency, accrued sick leave will be transferred from the applicable Ohio State Agency provided the time between separation and reappointment does not exceed ten years. Upon employment, the employee will provide a letter from the applicable Ohio State Agency that documents the date of separation and the sick leave balance at the time of separation.

When a former Wright State University employee begins employment with another Ohio state agency, accrued sick leave will be transferred to that Ohio state agency, provided the time between separation and reappointment does not exceed ten years. The Department of Human Resources will provide documentation of the former employee’s date of separation and the sick leave balance upon separation, upon the written request of the former employee.
 

Retirement or Death Payment of Sick Leave

• After ten years of state service and upon retirement or death, an employee or his/her estate may receive a cash settlement equivalent to one-fourth of the value of accrued but unused sick leave up to a maximum of one-fourth of 120 days. In no case shall payment exceed 30 days (240 hours). Payment is based upon the employee's rate of compensation at the time of retirement or death. Such payment eliminates all sick leave credit of the employee.
   
• A retirement payout for sick leave shall be made only once to any employee. An employee who returns to state service after retirement and receipt of cash payment for sick leave credit may accrue and use sick leave as before, but may not receive a cash settlement for the unused sick leave at the time of a second retirement.

For full policy information, please refer to University Policy 8420 Sick Leave.