4.57 Sick Leave (Emergency, Funeral, Pallbearer, etc.)
Eligible staff members earn sick leave accruals at the rate of 18 days per
year for full-time service or at the pro-rata equivalent for less than full
time. Sick leave accrues during any period of service in pay status, but
does not accrue during periods of absence without pay.
Usage - Staff members may use earned sick leave for personal illness (both
physical and mental), bodily injury, medically related disability resulting
from pregnancy or childbirth, or exposure to contagious disease which requires
the staff member's confinement, renders the staff member unable to perform
duties, or where performance of duty would jeopardize the staff member's
health or recovery.
The University may require a medical certificate or other appropriate verification
for sick leave absences when sick leave abuse is suspected or when medical
clearance to resume performance of assigned duties is deemed necessary.
Holidays falling during a period of absence due to a medically related disability
are paid as holidays and are not charged to the staff member's sick leave
accumulation.
If a staff member is hospitalized while on vacation, the staff member may
use sick leave for those days actually spent in a hospital. No other conversion
of vacation to sick leave is authorized.
All absences chargeable to sick leave must be authorized by appropriate
supervisors/administrators. The following provisions apply to those staff
members not covered by the faculty collective bargaining agreement.
a. Vacation or Compensatory Time
Staff members are permitted to use compensatory time and/or vacation in
lieu of sick leave when they so request.
b. Emergency Leave
Staff members may use up to 5 days (40 hours) of earned sick leave per year
for the care and necessary attention of ill or injured members of their
immediate family "Care and necessary attention" includes being
the sole provider of care for a sick or injured family member, the sole
source of transport for an ill or injured family member to or from a medical
care facility, or attending a hospitalized family member whose condition
is considered critical by medical authorities.
c. Funeral Leave
Staff members may use up to 3 days (24 hours) of earned sick leave per occurrence
when death occurs in their immediate family.
d. Pallbearer Leave
Staff members may use up to 1 day (8 hours) of earned sick leave per occurrence
when serving as a pallbearer or funeral attendant for someone who is not
a member of their immediate family.
e. Immediate Family Definition
Immediate family is defined for the purpose of the above leaves as wife,
husband, child, stepchild, parents, stepparents, foster parents, grandparents,
grandchildren, foster children, brothers (and their spouses), stepbrothers,
foster brothers, sisters (and their spouses), stepsisters, foster sisters,
nieces, nephews, first cousins of the staff member or spouse, aunts and
uncles of the staff member, or other members of the staff member's household.
f. Personal Medical or Dental Appointments
Staff members may use earned sick leave for personal medical or dental appointments
which cannot be scheduled at times other than during working hours.
g. Adoption Leave
Staff members may use up to 40 hours of sick leave per occurrence during
adoption.
Sick Leave - Vacation Conversion - Full-time non-faculty employees with
a minimum of 240 hours in their sick leave account may elect to convert
the 12 hours of sick leave earned in the current month to 4 hours of vacation.
The conversion of sick leave to vacation for part-time employees shall be
prorated. Any sick leave usage in a month makes an employee ineligible to
make the conversion for the month in which the use occurs. If use of sick
leave reduces an eligible employee's sick leave account below 240 hours,
the account will have to be built up to 240 hours before vacation conversion
under this program is restored.
Employees can accumulate up to twice their annual amount of converted sick
leave to vacation in addition to twice their annual vacation entitlement.
Unused Sick Leave Payout - A staff member who is 55 years of age or
older and has applied for retirement annuity benefits may receive up to
a $2,000 cash payment for unused sick leave. The payment is calculated
by multiplying the number of hours of unused sick leave by the hourly
rate of pay at the time of retirement, in accordance with Section 79-23
of the Code of Iowa. | 
