Regular Staff

302 SICK LEAVE

302.1 Definition

Sick Leave provides employees with an authorized paid absence from work for:

1. Care for the employee’s immediate family member, who is suffering from a physical or mental illness, injury, or medical condition that requires home care, professional medical diagnosis or care, or preventative medical care;
2. Care for the employee’s own physical or mental illness, injury, or medical condition that requires home care, professional medical diagnosis or care, or preventative medical care;
3. Attending a routine medical appointment or a routine medical appointment for the employee’s immediate family member;
4. Addressing the psychological, physical or legal effects of domestic violence; or
5. Travel to and from an appointment, a pharmacy, or other location related to the purpose for which the time was taken.

Immediate family members are the employee’s spouse, parents, parents-in-law, grandparents, brothers, sisters, and children.

302.2 Eligibility

All regular employees are eligible upon hire to begin accruing Sick Leave in accordance with the provisions of this Policy.

302.3 Accrual

Eligible employees whose primary place of employment is Massachusetts accrue Sick Leave for each full month of service completed at Boston University.

The following accrual rates are based on a regular full-time workweek and twelve-month assignment duration. They apply on a pro-rata basis to regular, part-time employees.

1. Regular, full-time, non-exempt employees (paid weekly) accrue Sick Leave, upon hire, at the rate of one (1) day for each full month of service cumulative to 130 workdays (6 calendar months).
2. Regular, full-time exempt employees (paid monthly) in Salary Grades 51 and 52 and 71 and 72 accrue sick leave, upon hire, at the rate of one (1) day for each full month of service cumulative to 130 workdays (6 calendar months).
3. Regular, full-time exempt employees (paid monthly) in Salary Grades 53 through 60, and 73 and above, are granted 22 workdays (1 calendar month) of Sick Leave, upon hire, and accrue Sick Leave at the rate of 1.75 workdays for each full month of service cumulative to 130 workdays (6 calendar months). Employees who are promoted into Salary Grades 53 through 60, and 73 and above, who have less than 22 days of accrued sick leave will have their sick leave balance supplemented up to a maximum of 22 days.

Employees who are promoted into these salary grades and who have 22 days or more of accrued sick leave will not be supplemented any additional days.

4. Regular, part-time employees accrue Sick Leave as their full-time counterparts (see above) but on a pro-rata basis. Eligible employees hired on or before the fifteenth (15th) of the month will be credited with a full month of service on the first day of the following month. Employees hired on or after the sixteenth (16th) of the month are not credited with a full month of service for that month. Employees maintain their accrued Sick Leave when they transfer from one position within the University to another.

No department or supervisor may authorize sick leave accrual beyond the amount allowed under this section.

302.4 Additional Sick Leave Awards

All employees, except those in Salary Grades 53 through 60, and 73 and above, who are eligible to accrue Sick Leave are also eligible to earn additional hours of Sick Leave by sufficiently conserving their Sick Leave usage over a complete calendar year. Additional hours earned over a complete calendar year will be credited to the employee’s Sick Leave accrual on January 1 of the following calendar year.

The additional hours of Sick Leave that will be awarded to eligible employees based on their Sick Leave usage over a complete calendar year are listed below.

The figures are based on a regular, full-time workweek for a twelve-month calendar year and apply on a pro-rata basis to regular, part-time employees.

Employees may accrue a maximum of 130 workdays of Sick Leave. This represents the combined total of both the employee’s regular monthly accruals and any additional hours of Sick Leave that may be awarded based upon the employee’s Sick Leave usage.

302.5 Usage

Employees are eligible to use their accrued Sick Leave 90 calendar days after their date of hire.

During an employee’s first three (3) months of service, time off that would normally be taken as Sick Leave will be taken as Unpaid Time Off. Non-exempt employees eligible for Personal Day absences may convert up to two (2) days of accrued Sick Leave to Personal Days each calendar year.

Employees are entitled to use Sick Leave up to the number of Sick Leave days that they have accrued. For non-exempt employees, Sick Leave converted to Personal Days will be counted as Sick Leave used.

Sick Leave will be used in hourly increments.

Should employees exhaust their accrued paid Sick Leave and request additional absences for which they do not have Sick Leave available, they must use available accrued Vacation, Personal Days or Compensatory Time Off. Any additional absences are subject to departmental approval. Employees who exhaust their accrued Sick Leave, Vacation Leave, available Personal Days, and available Compensatory Time Off may request Unpaid Time Off under Section 313 or an unpaid leave of absence under Section 314 for additional absences that would normally be taken as Sick Leave.

Where an employee’s use of earned Sick Leave requires the University to hire a replacement or call in another employee, and the University does so, the employee may be required to use an equal number of hours as the replacement or call-in employee works, up to a full shift of earned Sick Leave.

302.6 Break in Service

Employees maintain the right to use up to 40 hours of accrued earned Sick Leave after a break in service of up to one year from the last date of actual work.

302.7 Compensation and Benefits

Employees maintain their regular pay and benefits while absent from work on approved paid Sick Leave.

Employees are not compensated for unused Sick Leave at the time their employment with Boston University terminates.

Employees who are absent from work due to illness or injury sustained in the course of employment are subject to and paid in accordance with the provisions of the Massachusetts Worker’s Compensation Law. Employee absences during statutory waiting periods for Worker’s Compensation may be charged to an employee’s accrued Sick Leave.

Employees will be paid under the Massachusetts Worker’s Compensation Law for absences that occur after the statutory waiting periods have been satisfied. Employees may elect to use accrued Sick Leave to supplement their weekly Worker’s Compensation benefits to the extent that the employee’s total compensation does not exceed their regular pay.

Non-exempt employees and exempt employees in salary grades 51, 52, 71, and 72 who remain medically incapacitated beyond 45 calendar days, and have exhausted their accrued Sick Leave, should consult Boston University’s Short-Term Disability Plan to determine their eligibility under the plan.

302.8 Requests and Approval

Employees shall make a good faith effort to provide notice of the need for use of Sick Leave to their immediate supervisor as soon as practicable. The immediate supervisor must be notified that an employee is unable to report to work due to illness as soon as possible, but not less than one-half (1/2) hour after the start of the workday.

If the reason for the use of Sick Leave is for a pre-scheduled or foreseeable absence, employees must notify their supervisor seven (7) calendar days in advance.

For any absences greater than 24 consecutive work hours, employees may be required to provide documentation evidencing the need for the use of Sick Leave. Documentation may also be required in cases when an employee has four (4) unforeseeable and undocumented absences within a 3-month period. Documentation for the use of Sick Leave will be in accordance with M.G.L. c. 149, § 148C and the regulations promulgated thereunder for the first forty (40) hours of Sick Leave used.

Employees using more than forty (40) hours of Sick Leave in a calendar year may be required to provide medical documentation substantiating their use of Sick Leave in accordance with departmental practice. Employees who are absent for more than one (1) day must notify their supervisor on each day they are absent or at intervals requested by the supervisor.

302.9 Special Provisions

An employee committing fraud or abuse by engaging in an activity that is not consistent with allowable purposes for earned sick time under M.G.L. c. 149, § 148C and the regulations promulgated thereunder may be subject to discipline for misuse of sick leave.

An employee who is exhibiting a clear pattern of taking leave on days just before or after a weekend, vacation, or holiday may be subject to discipline for misuse of earned sick time, unless the employee provides verification of authorized use under M.G.L. c. 149, § 148C.