Sick Leave Pool
The University maintains a Sick Leave Pool for eligible employees that allows employees to voluntarily pool a portion of their accumulated sick leave, and upon depletion of their own sick, annual and compensatory leave, to draw sick leave credits from the pool for their personal catastrophic injury or illness in accordance with established procedures.
Questions may be directed to the Office of Human Resources at
- General information:
- Eligibility:
- Other sick leave pool stipulations:
- Applying for membership:
- Requesting sick leave pool benefits:
- Frequently Asked Questions
General information:
- The use of hours from the sick leave pool is for an employee's serious injury or catastrophic health condition.
- A member of the sick leave pool may apply for benefits up to a maximum of 240 hours in a consecutive 12-month period, with a lifetime maximum of 480 hours. Sick leave pool benefits will be limited to no more than 120 hours per request for full-time employees.
- Once enrolled, an employee does not need to re-enroll. Enrollment continues from year to year.
- An employee may only enroll during the open enrollment period of November 1st through November 30th.
Eligibility:
- The program is available to current faculty, administrative or support staff employees with at least 12 months of continuous service. Student and Other Personnel Services (OPS) employees are not eligible.
- A sick leave balance of at least 64 hours is required at the time of enrollment.
- A one-time donation of eight hours of sick leave to the sick leave pool is required upon enrollment. An additional eight hours of sick leave may be requested if the pool drops to an unacceptable level.
Other sick leave pool stipulations:
- Participation in the sick leave pool does not guarantee that hours may be withdrawn from the sick leave pool. The University reserves the right to deny a request for sick leave pool benefits when the application for benefits or medical verification is incomplete, or the request does not conform to the sick leave pool usage policy. (See University Sick Leave Policy for occurrences or situations that are not applicable for sick leave pool benefits.)
- A sick leave pool member must deplete, or will have depleted, all accrued compensatory time, sick leave, annual leave and personal leave prior to being granted the use of sick leave pool hours.
- If an employee meets the criteria to receive disability benefits under an applicable University, private insurance policy or government program, the employee is no longer eligible to use sick leave pool hours.
- If an employee has time off due to a job-related injury covered by workers' compensation benefits, the employee is not eligible to use sick leave pool hours for the time designated as workers' compensation.
- If the sick leave pool committee issues a decision denying an application for membership, a request for sick leave pool benefits or a request to cancel membership in the sick leave pool, an employee may appeal such decision within five calendar days. The appeal must be made in writing to the President or designee, and the decision of the President or designee shall be final.
Applying for membership:
Requesting sick leave pool benefits:
- Complete the request to use sick leave pool hours.
- Include a completed certification of health care provider.
Frequently Asked Questions
-
What is the sick leave pool?
The sick leave pool is a voluntary program to provide employees who are members with sick leave hours after all their accrued leave has been exhausted.
-
Who can join the sick leave pool?
Any faculty, administrative or support staff employee who has been employed with the University for at least 12 months, and has at least 64 hours of sick leave available is eligible to join. Membership is not open for adjunct, student or other personnel services (OPS) employees.
-
Is there a cost to join the sick leave pool?
There is a mandatory donation of eight hours of sick leave required to join the sick leave pool.
-
When can I enroll in the sick leave pool?
Enrollment in the sick leave pool is done once a year through an open enrollment event. The open enrollment event occurs from Nov. 1 through Nov. 30. The application for sick leave pool membership will be reviewed by the sick leave pool committee. Once enrolled, an employee will be eligible to request sick leave pool benefits as of the following January.
-
When can I use sick leave pool benefits?
Sick leave pool benefits may only be requested if an employee suffers a catastrophic injury or illness, and after all of the employee's accrued leave has been exhausted. Both an application to use sick leave pool benefits and a certification of health care provider are necessary when requesting sick leave pool benefits. All requests to use benefits are reviewed and either approved or denied by the sick leave pool committee.
-
Can sick leave pool benefits be used for the care of immediate family members?
Sick leave pool benefits are only able to be used for the catastrophic injury or illness of the covered employee, and may not be used for the care of immediate family members.
-
Does the sick leave pool cover a catastrophic, work-related injury or illness?
Any work-related injuries or illnesses are covered under workers' compensation, not by the sick leave pool. For information about workers' compensation, please visit the workers' compensation page.
-
If I am granted sick leave pool benefits, do I have to repay the hours upon my return to work?
An employee does not repay any used hours granted by the sick leave pool, however, any unused hours granted by the sick leave pool must be returned.
-
May I donate my sick leave hours to the sick leave pool upon my termination or retirement?
An employee may donate up to 16 hours of sick leave to the sick leave pool upon termination or retirement. Submit a completed donation to the sick leave pool upon employee termination form.
-
Can I cancel my membership with the sick leave pool?
Membership in the sick leave pool may be canceled at any time by the employee. Once membership has been canceled, an employee is no longer eligible to receive sick leave pool benefits, and must reapply to the sick leave pool if so desired.