All full-time hourly employees are covered by the university’s extended sick leave policy. Part-time employees are covered on a prorated basis. Extended sick leave time shall accrue at the rate of .01925 per hour worked, hours taken for vacation, and hours taken for sick leave, but does not include overtime hours worked, up to a maximum of 1000 hours.
Extended sick leave shall be available for extended illnesses, disability or incapacity. Childbirth is a qualifying incapacity. Beginning with the fourth work day of an illness, full-time or part-time pay shall be continued and charged to the extended sick leave time bank.
To qualify for this benefit, the employee must be under the care of a physician and submit a physician’s certificate stating the nature of the illness or incapacity. In cases where an employee is hospitalized on an inpatient basis, benefits from this policy shall commence on the day of admittance to the hospital.
Extended sick leave does not apply to any day during which an employee is entitled to cash benefits for temporary disability under Worker’s Compensation or employees’ disability laws, or to any day that the employee would otherwise not be expected to be at work (for example: weekends and holidays).
Upon returning to work after an extended absence (of four or more consecutive days), employees may be asked to supply a return to work certificate from their attending healthcare professional, stating that he/she is cleared for duties pertaining to their current position. This documentation would be provided to the Human Resources department.
Should an employee be absent from work because of sickness beyond their accrued Paid Leave time and extended sick leave time, the employee may submit a request to the Human Resources Committee for additional hours from the Donated Paid Leave Hours Bank ( see Policy 3190). The approval of additional hours from the Donated Paid Leave Hours Bank is not guaranteed and subject to available funding. Requests are considered on a case by case basis.
Extended sick leave hours may be used if an employee has outpatient surgery beginning on day one, and will be off from work at least the following two days, as a result of the outpatient surgery. Extended sick leave hours cannot be used if the employee is in the hospital one day and back to work the next work-day.
Extended sick leave hours shall not be converted to paid leave or paid to the employee at the termination of employment. No payment is to be made to the new employer for extended sick leave hours.
** (Item #11 from Paid Leave Policy): Employees who have used Extended Sick Leave due to an illness and return to work for not longer than two weeks and then experience a relapse will not be required to use a total of three days from paid leave in order to meet the eligibility /requirement for that benefit. The original illness or the relapse must have been certified by a physician and at least one of the illnesses must have required hospitalization.
Where an employee transfers to Southern Adventist University from another denominational organization the Human Resources Committee may grant a credit of 24 hours of extended sick leave time for each full year of denominational service up to a maximum of 320 hours.
Extended sick leave may be used when an hourly employee must care for an immediate family member. For purpose of this policy, an immediate family member is defined as: child/step child, parent, or spouse. Same terms will apply (including the requiring of medical documentation); with the following limitation: Only up to a maximum of 76 hours (10 days) of extended sick leave can be applied/used towards the care for the employee’s family member AND the employee must not drop below 40 hours in his/her extended sick leave bank.