Sick-Leave Policy

Policy
Loyola University Chicago (University or LUC) provides paid sick leave allotment for regular full-time and part-time Staff employees who are scheduled to work at least 20 hours per week. The University also provides paid sick leave allotment for part-time, hourly Staff who work less than 20 hours per week, including temporary, seasonal, active casual hourly Staff, and hourly paid student workers.

Purpose
The university recognizes that, at times, employees may be unable to work due to their private illness or injury or the illness, injury, or medical appointment of a family member. During such instances, eligible employees may use sick time.

Applicability

This policy applies to regular full-time and part-time staff employees who are scheduled to work at least twenty (20) hours per week.
This policy applies to part-time hourly paid staff who are less than .50/.53 FTE
This policy applies to temporary, seasonal & active casual hourly paid staff.
This policy applies to hourly paid student workers.
Staff employees who are paid monthly are not covered by this policy.

Information/Guidelines

A. Accruals
Sick leave is accrued based on an employee’s regularly scheduled work hours. It may be carried over from year to year, up to a maximum of 30 days, or in the case of part-time hourly Staff (working less than .50/.53 FTE), temporary, seasonal & active casual hourly paid staff, and hourly paid student workers, a maximum of 80 hours can be carried over in a given year. For regular full-time and part-time staff employees who are scheduled to work at least 20 hours per week, paid sick leave is accrued bi-weekly based on an employee’s FTE (full-time equivalent) according to the following schedule:

FTE Lake Shore and Water Tower Campuses	FTE Health Sciences Campus	Days Accrued Per Year	Maximum Days
1.0	1.0	10 days	30 days
0.80 up to .99	0.80 up to 0.99	7 days	30 days
0.64 up to .79	0.60 up to 0.79	6 days	30 days
0.53 up to .63	0.50 up to 0.59	5 days	30 days

Accruals begin from an employee’s date of hire.
Employees are eligible to use sick leave after they have completed their first thirty (30) days of employment.
If you are hired into a position classified as an Administrative Director or above or Heath Sciences Campus (HSC) Librarian, you will receive five (5) sick days in your sick leave bank upon hire.
If you are a 9, 10, or 11-month exempt staff member paid monthly, your department will handle leave tracking internally. You earn ten (10) sick days per year, with a maximum accrual balance of thirty (30) days.
Employees whose sick leave accrual balance is greater than thirty (30) days as of December 31, 2008, will retain their balance and will only accrue sick leave once their sick leave balance is less than the thirty (30) day maximum. Note: This provision does not apply to employees in a position classified as an Administrator Director or above and HSC Librarian.

For part-time hourly staff (working less than .50/.53 FTE), temporary, seasonal & active casual hourly paid staff, and hourly paid student workers, paid sick leave is accrued bi-weekly at the rate of one (1) hour of paid sick leave for every 35 hours worked:

Lake Shore, Water Tower, and Health Sciences Campuses	Hours Accrued Per Year	Maximum Hours
Part-time Hourly Staff Less Than .50/.53 FTE	40	80
Temporary, Seasonal, & Active Casual Hourly Paid Staff	40	80
Hourly Paid Student Workers	40	80

Employees whose sick leave balance accrues to 80 hours will retain their balance and will not accrue sick leave until their sick leave balance is less than the 80 hour maximum.

B. Applicable Use of Accrued Sick Time

Employee’s illness or injury, or to receive medical care, treatment, diagnosis, or preventative medical care
Illness or injury of a family member (see below --> Family (Defined))
To care for a family member receiving medical care, treatment, diagnosis, or preventative medical care
If the employee or family member is the victim of domestic violence or a sex offense
If the employee’s place of business is closed by order of a public official due to a public health emergency
If the employee needs to care for a child whose school or place of care has been closed by order of a public official due to a public health emergency

Family (Defined):

The employee's child (biological, adopted, step or foster, or a child to whom the employee stands in loco parentis, legal guardian, or ward)
Spouse or domestic partner
Spouse or domestic partner’s parent, sibling, parent (including biological, foster, adoptive, or legal guardian, step, or a person who stood in loco parentis when the employee was a minor), stepparent, parent-in-law, grandchild, grandparent
Any other individual related by blood or whose close association with the employee is the equivalent of a family relationship

Excessive absenteeism, or patterns of calling off, may result in disciplinary action. Any sick leave beyond three (3) consecutive workdays will be considered an extended medical leave of absence. If you are eligible, you may receive short-term disability benefits during a medical leave of absence. Refer to the Short-Term Disability (STD) policy.

C. Notification and Attendance

All employees with scheduled work hours are expected to notify their manager or designee of each absent day at least one (1) hour before their start time. Depending on operational needs, departments may establish notification requirements up to three (3) hours before start time.

Managers will communicate the appropriate time periods and notification methods to employees.
Paying sick leave hours may be denied if notification is not received by the specified time.

In cases of absence due to a serious illness or health condition beyond three (3) consecutive days, the employee must contact MetLife and their manager to report their absence. MetLife will notify Human Resources of the absence.

D. Extended Absences

Employees absent for more than three (3) consecutive days for reasons other than scheduled vacation are required to contact MetLife. In evaluating the payment of sick leave or short-term disability benefits, managers and employees are referred to the GENERAL LEAVE OF ABSENCE AND FAMILY/MEDICAL LEAVE ACT POLICY.

New Hires are not eligible for an extended paid leave of absence during their first six (6) months of employment
Unpaid absences of more than five (5) consecutive workdays for newly hired employees constitutes a voluntary resignation from employment unless the employee provides medical certification that they may return to work after no more ten (10) days of absence

E. Change of Status, Paid or Unpaid Leave of Absence or Termination of Employment

When employees change status from full-time to part-time, they will retain their accrued paid sick time provided the time is below the maximum accrual designated in this policy's Accruals section for regular part-time employees.

Note:

Employees will not accrue sick leave while on a paid or unpaid leave of absence.
Accrued paid sick time is not paid out to employees at termination of employment or at retirement.

Responsibility

Employee: It is the employee's responsibility to notify their supervisor in a timely manner when an illness occurs as set by department procedure, and to contact MetLife to report your serious illness if the employee is out for more than three (3) days.
Department: Every supervisor is responsible for scheduling and documenting sick time used by exempt and non-exempt employees by authorizing the Payroll Department’s payment of sick leave per this policy.
Human Resources: Loyola University Chicago’s Human Resources Division is responsible for interpreting and administering the sick leave policy, and the authority to make exceptions.

Revised: 1/30/14, 9/9/15, 12/31/16, 2/1/17, 2/27/17, 3/7/17, 6/28/17, 11/26/19, 2/23/24, 07/01/24