Faculty Leave Benefits Policy

Policy Details

Effective Date:

May 25, 2017

Supersedes:

COM Administrative Policies Initially Adopted February 28, 2007; amended June 1, 2009; September 30, 2010; January 19, 2011; June 12, 2012; May 10, 2013; July 10, 2014; Faculty Benefits Policy Amended May 25, 2017.

Responsible Authority:

Associate Dean for Faculty Affairs

Policy Statement

The Benefits Office in the Department of Human Resources is responsible for the administration of all University benefit programs available to faculty.

Holidays

The University holiday schedule is set by the University President and published by University Human Resources. The following holidays are typically observed by the University:

• New Year's Day
• Martin Luther King Day
• Memorial Day
• Independence Day
• Labor Day
• Veteran's Day
• Thanksgiving Day
• Day after Thanksgiving
• Christmas Day

All offices in which functions can be discontinued temporarily are closed on University holidays. When a holiday falls on Saturday, the preceding Friday will be observed as a holiday; when a holiday falls on a Sunday, the following Monday is observed as the holiday.

Leave Programs

Absenteeism, annual leave, sick leave, the sick leave pool, compulsory leave, leave of absence without pay, military leave and parental leave are governed by the Florida Atlantic University Academic Affairs Faculty Handbook, Office of the Provost Memoranda and Policies and Florida Atlantic University Personnel Policy with the exception of the superseding policies listed herein.

Annual Leave

Full-time faculty holding 12-month appointments earn annual leave at the rate of 6.77 hours bi-weekly. Part-time faculty with 12-month appointments earn annual leave at a rate directly proportionate to the percent of time employed. OPS and affiliate faculty do not earn annual leave.

*Year-end maximum hour carry over for faculty per FAU Personnel Policies.

Faculty may continue to accrue annual leave in excess of the year end maximum during a calendar year. Faculty with accrued annual leave in excess of the year end maximum as of December 31 shall have any excess converted to sick leave on an hour-for-hour basis in the first pay period of January of each year. Faculty annual leave may not be paid out at the termination of the employment in excess of 22 days.

Faculty are expected to use annual leave when appropriate as noted in the Florida Atlantic University Academic Affairs Faculty Handbook. Faculty may need to travel or take leave time for any number of personal or professional reasons. It is the responsibility of faculty members to submit annual leave requests through their Workday account in advance of the absence taking place to ensure and to document coverage of their regularly assigned duties. If professional travel is associated with the requested absence, travel (spend authorization) requests must also be submitted through Workday. All requests must be approved by the Department Chair or their designee through Workday. When leave is related to other employment or professional activity, a Report of Outside Employment or Professional Activity for FAU Employees form must be on file. If the outside employment or professional activity involves an entity or agency doing business with or proposing to do business with the University at the time the form is completed, the Report of Specified Interest form must also be on file.

Cashing Out Annual Leave

Annual leave may not be paid out at the termination of the employment in excess of 22 days. Once the maximum payout has been paid, no further payouts may occur regardless if reemployed. No faculty member who has been terminated for cause, been separated due to job abandonment, or who has resigned in lieu of termination is entitled to the annual leave payout unless authorized by the President or designee. Upon re-employment by the University within thirty (30) days or upon rehire by the University within one year following layoff, all unpaid annual leave shall be restored and any annual leave paid at the time of separation shall be fully or partially restored upon repayment.

Faculty who accrue annual leave as a result of being appointed to a position that is funded by a grant may be cashed out for unused annual leave hours earned from that appointment when the funding source ends or the appointment funded by that funding source ends, provided there are sufficient funds in the funding source to cover the payment. When there are insufficient funds from the funding source to cash out the unused leave hours (up to 22 days), the University is not required to cash out the balance.

Sick Leave

Full-time faculty earn four hours of sick leave during each biweekly pay period, without limitation as to the total number of hours that may be accrued as noted in the Florida Atlantic University Academic Affairs Faculty Handbook. A Leave Request must be completed whenever any employee plans to use leave time. Employees may use accrued sick leave for the following purposes:

1. The employee's personal illness, injury, exposure to a contagious disease; a disability where the employee is unable to perform assigned duties; or appointments with health care providers.
2. The illness, injury, appointments with health care providers, or death of a member of the employee’s immediate family. "Immediate family" means the spouse, and the grandparents, parents, brothers, sisters, children, and grandchildren of both the employee and the spouse, and dependents living in the household.

Faculty, who will require a continuous use of sick leave for more than 40 hours, must send medical documentation to a confidential fax machine in the Office of Human Resources (561-297-4220), designated for medical documentation. The certification from the health care provider needs to state the medical reasons necessitating the absence from work and an estimate of the length of time the faculty member will be unable to work. Human Resources will be copied on the leave approval so that the faculty member can be provided with information on Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA) entitlements (www.fau.edu/hr/employee-relations/) as required by law. An FMLA form must be completed for absences of more than one week. All medical documentation is retained in a confidential folder in the Office of Human Resources.

Faculty Leave of Absence without Pay

Upon the request of the employee, the President or his/her representative may grant leave without pay for a limited time; unless it is determined that granting such leave would be inconsistent with the best interest of the College/University. The request must be submitted to the Chair and requires support of the Chair and the Dean and approval from the Office of the Provost. If a faculty member is taking a leave of absence without pay, the Benefits Office must be contacted to arrange for payment of insurance premiums.