Leaves and Holidays
Absence Notification
Faculty members are responsible for notifying their department head/chair before an absence from a scheduled class or office hour. They are also expected to notify their department head/chair in a case of sickness or emergency, which prevents the faculty member's presence on campus. A pay and leave approval form must be completed for any absence of one or more days.
Holidays
Faculty classified as “academic year” employees, are entitled to all days designated in the campus academic calendar as academic holidays or any other day designated by the Governor as a public fast or holiday. Academic holidays are not compensatory. The following schedules have been approved for the 2008-2009 academic year:
AY Faculty Only Holidays
August 30-September 14, Academic Holiday
November 26-30, Thanksgiving Break
Dec. 14-Jan. 4, Academic Holiday
March 24-29, Academic Holiday
June 15-121, Academic Holiday
Campus Open Holidays
September 9, California Admission Day
October 13, Columbus Day
February 12, Lincoln's Birthday
Campus Closed Holidays
September 1, Labor Day
November 11, Veterans' Day Observed
November 27-28, Thanksgiving Holiday
December 24-26, Christmas Holiday
January 1, New Year's Holiday
January 19, Martin Luther King Jr. Birthday Observed
February 16, Washington's Birthday Observed
March 31, Cesar Chavez Holiday
May 25, Memorial Day Holiday
July 3, Independence Day Holiday Observed
All Holidays
August 30-September 14, Academic Holiday, AY Faculty Only
September 1, Labor Day, Campus Closed
September 9, California Admission Day, Campus Open
October 13, Columbus Day, Campus Open
November 11, Veterans' Day Observed, Campus Closed
November 26-30, Thanksgiving Break, AY Faculty Only
November 27-28, Thanksgiving Holiday, Campus Closed
Dec. 14-Jan. 4, Academic Holiday, AY Faculty Only
December 24-26, Christmas Holiday, Campus Closed
January 1, New Year's Holiday, Campus Closed
January 19, Martin Luther King Jr. Birthday Observed, Campus Closed
February 12, Lincoln's Birthday, Campus Open
February 16, Washington's Birthday Observed, Campus Closed
March 24-29, Academic Holiday, AY Faculty Only
March 31, Cesar Chavez Holiday, Campus Closed
May 25, Memorial Day Holiday, Campus Closed
June 15-21, Academic Holiday, AY Faculty Only
July 3, Independence Day Holiday Observed, Campus Closed
Personal Holiday
All academic employees are entitled to a one-day Personal Holiday each calendar year. If the Personal Holiday is not taken before the end of the calendar year, it is forfeited. Scheduling of the Personal Holiday must be agreed on by the employee and dean.
Vacation
Faculty members appointed to academic year assignments are entitled to take one of four consecutive quarters as vacation. Normally, the vacation quarter begins with the close of the employee's regular academic year and ends with the beginning of the next academic year. Faculty shall not take vacation until completion of one month in work status.
Full-time faculty employees with a 10- or 12-month work year earn vacation at the rate of two days per qualifying month of service (part-time employees accrue vacation on a prorated basis). Faculty employed on an academic year basis do not earn vacation credit Vacation credit is cumulative to a maximum of 320 working hours (48 days) for 10 or less years of service or 440 working hours (55 days) for more than 10 years of such service. Accumulated vacation hours exceeding these maximum amounts as of January 1 of each year shall be forfeited. After one full year of employment, employees should take at least 40 hours of vacation each calendar year. Any part of the 40 hours not taken during the calendar year is forfeited on January 1 of the following year. Under certain conditions, the President may permit an academic employee to carry over more than the allowable credits.
Accrued vacation may be taken after completing one qualifying pay period. Except in an emergency and with prior written approval of their dean, employees are not to take vacation time off during any quarter in which they are teaching.
Requests for scheduling vacation must be submitted in writing to the department head/chair at least thirty days in advance. Whenever possible, vacations shall be scheduled by mutual agreement of the faculty member and department head/chair. The scheduling of vacation may also arise from the needs of the institution. Although vacation credits are a right, the time vacations are taken must be convenient to the University and approved by the dean.
Leaves Without Pay
Full-time academic employees may be granted a leave without pay by the dean for a specific period of time, normally not exceeding two years. A part-time temporary academic employee may be granted a leave of absence without pay to maintain their rights and entitlements, under provisions 12.3, 12.7, 12.9, 12.10, 12.12, and 12.13 of the collective bargaining agreement, for up to one quarter.
Requests for leave without pay must specify whether the leave is for professional or personal reasons. Faculty members on leave of absence without pay shall notify the dean no later than April 1 of their intention to return at the beginning of the next academic year and no later than October 1 of their intention to return at the beginning of the winter or spring quarters.
Professional Leaves Without Pay
A professional leave without pay may be granted if its purpose benefits the University, such as research, advanced study, or professional development. Such leaves shall be considered totally voluntary and for the purposes of workers compensation, the time involved will not be considered time worked. A faculty member on approved professional leave without pay will accrue service credit toward probation, sabbatical eligibility, difference in pay eligibility, service salary increase eligibility, and seniority. Service credit toward retirement is not accrued during periods of unpaid leave, but may be repurchased upon return from professional leave (see CalPERS Service Credit and Buyback information below). Leave applications should be submitted to the college dean via the department head/chair.
Personal Leaves Without Pay
A personal leave without pay may be for purposes of unpaid sick leave, outside employment, maternity/paternity leave, family care or other purposes of a personal nature. Faculty on personal leave without pay do not accrue service credit toward sabbatical eligibility, difference in pay eligibility, salary increase eligibility, or seniority unless otherwise specified in the collective bargaining agreement. Service credit toward retirement is not accrued during periods of unpaid leave. Under certain circumstances, probationary faculty on personal leaves without pay may request that their probationary period be extended. Requests should be submitted to the college dean via the department head/chair.
CalPERS Service Credit and Buyback
CalPERS offers a variety of service credit purchase options. One unique to CSU employees is upon returning to campus from a less than full salary sabbatical leave, difference-in-pay leave, or leave without pay for professional reasons, employees may request to purchase full service credit for the leave period by contributing the additional amount they would have contributed toward CalPERS had they been working full time, and the additional University contribution amount, plus interest that would have been earned from CalPERS prior to the time the employee deposits such funds with CalPERS. Following are the steps for requesting leave service credit cost information:
Complete a Request for Service Credit Cost Information Leave of Absence form and mail it to CalPERS Member Services Division, P.O. Box 944000, Sacramento, 95812-4000. CalPERS phone number is (888)225-7377. CalPERS will compute the costs of the service credit and notify you through an election form which indicates the costs of purchasing the service credit and offers lump-sum or installment methods of payment. PERS notification may take a year or longer. The election form must be signed and returned to PERS within the stated deadline if you wish to purchase the service credit. An election to purchase service credit is irrevocable.
This cost information may be requested more than once, at any time prior to retirement. For more information, please request the booklet “CalPERS Service Credit Purchase Options” from Human Resources, or visit CalPERS under the "Active Member - State Employee" view, then click on "Service Credit Purchase Options" under Quick Links.
Sick Leave
Full-time employees earn one day of sick leave credit per month following completion of one month of continuous service and for each additional qualifying pay period thereafter. Part-time employees will accrue credit for sick leave on a pro rata basis. There is no limit to the number of sick leave credits that can be accumulated. Faculty members are charged sick leave for each full day of work missed (exclusive of days on which the campus is closed) from the onset of the illness/injury until they resume their duties or notify their dean or department head that he/she is available to resume work. Sick leave not used at the time of retirement is converted toward service credit. Up to 40 hours of accrued sick leave credit may be used for family care during any one calendar year (see collective bargaining agreement 24.13).
Catastrophic Leave Donation Program
The catastrophic leave program provides leave with pay for up to six months for an eligible employee who suffers a catastrophic illness or injury, is unable to work, and has exhausted his/her leave credits. The leave is funded through voluntary donations of sick leave and/or vacation leave credits by employees on the same campus as the injured/ill employee.
An employee who accrues vacation or sick leave credits may donate either of those credits to another Cal Poly employee. Employees may donate a maximum of 40 hours of credits per fiscal year in increments of one hour or more. Donations are irrevocable.
A catastrophic illness or injury is one that makes it impossible for the employee to work. Catastrophic illness or injury may also include an incapacitated member of the employee's immediate family, if this results in the employee's being required to take time off for an extended period of time in order to care for the family member and the employee has exhausted all personally accrued vacation credits and all personally accrued sick leave credits eligible to be used for family care in accordance with the collective bargaining agreement. Only donated vacation credits can be used for family care/catastrophic leave. The employee may be asked to provide verification of the continuing use of leave credits. For additional information regarding this program please contact Human Resources at 756-2236.
Family and Medical Leave
An employee who has been employed for at least one academic year or 12 months (not necessarily continuously) preceding the leave is eligible for Family and Medical Leave (FML). Up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave, within a 12 month period, may be taken to care for a new child or to care for a seriously ill spouse, domestic partner, child or parent, or if the employee suffers a serious health problem. Permanent employees earn seniority points during both the paid and unpaid portions of FML. The leave of absence of a temporary employee terminates upon expiration date of the employee's temporary appointment.
Eligible employees should provide the dean with reasonable written notice of the need for family or medical leave as soon as possible and preferably no less than fourteen (14) days prior to the expected leave, when possible. In the case of an emergency with no advance notice, written notice of leave is to be submitted within five (5) working days of learning of the need for leave.
Parental Leave
It is the policy of the California State University that women shall not be penalized when they request time away from work due to pregnancy. Pregnancy, or any disability caused by or contributed to, by pregnancy, must be considered justification for use of sick leave, if a woman's condition prior to delivery is such that her doctor believes she should take leave. Miscarriages and other unexpected trauma during the course of a pregnancy are valid reasons for the use of sick leave and will be treated in the same way as any other illness or disability.
A tenured faculty member is entitled to unpaid maternity/paternity leave of absence for up to twelve (12) months to prepare for the arrival and care of a new infant subject to the provisions in the collective bargaining agreement.
Up to thirty consecutive workdays of paid maternity/paternity/adoption leave will be routinely approved without certification by a physician. This leave shall commence within a 135 day period beginning 60 days prior to the anticipated arrival of the new child and ending 75 days after the arrival of the new child. An additional ten days of earned sick leave may be used in conjunction with maternity leave for recovery from childbirth. A physician’s statement is required for usage of sick leave exceeding ten days. Short-term disability (NDI) is also available for maternity leave. An employee is also entitled to receive up to thirty days of paid maternity/paternity leave for the adoptive or foster placement of a child into their care within 60 days of the child’s arrival.
Bereavement Leave
When requested, academic employees are granted five (5) days leave of absence with pay for each death in the immediate family. Three consecutive days' leave of absence with pay may be granted upon request if the death of an immediate family member requires the employee to travel over 500 miles from home. Up to 40 hours of accrued sick leave credits may also be authorized to supplement bereavement leave for each death in the immediate family.
Emergency Leave
If a natural catastrophe or emergency situation places the health or safety of a faculty member in jeopardy, an emergency leave with pay may be granted by the President. Such leaves shall normally be of short duration.
Leave to Vote
Academic employees who are unable to vote outside of regular working hours may be granted up to two hours of work time without loss of pay to vote at a general, direct primary or presidential primary election. Employees are required to request leave time from the dean through the department head/chair at least two working days before the election.
Absence as a Witness
Employees serving as a court-subpoenaed witness or as an expert witness in the interest of the CSU should request payment of witness fees. Whenever possible, faculty should confer with the attorney requesting their appearance to determine whether certified copies of appropriate documents would be suitable and would eliminate the need for a court appearance.
An academic employee who is absent as a court-subpoenaed witness or as an expert witness in the interest of the CSU is paid the normal salary for the corresponding period of absence if all court fees (except personal travel and/or subsistence payments) are remitted to the CSU. In exceptional circumstances where the academic employee does not remit such fees, an amount equal to the fees is deducted from the employee's salary. No vacation or CTO shall be used in such cases.
Jury Duty
Faculty members are not categorically exempt from serving on jury duty. The performance of jury duty is a paid absence when the employee remits the amount received for such duty to the state. For those employees with accrued vacation credit, jury duty may be taken on vacation time and the fee received for jury duty may be retained. If the employee elects to retain the fees received from jury duty, his/her time off is not compensable vacation or CTO to cover time off. As with all absences, the Exempt Employee Pay and Leave Usage form (available from Payroll) should be completed before performing jury duty.
Military Leave
Emergency, temporary, and indefinite military leave shall be granted to eligible employees in accordance with state and federal law. Contact the Academic Personnel Office for further information at 756-6570.
Absence Without Leave
Voluntary or involuntary absence without leave for five consecutive working days is considered an automatic resignation from state service as of the last date on which the employee worked. An employee's pay is docked for any unexcused or noncompensable absence. Employees terminated under these provisions can request reinstatement by the State Personnel Board in accordance with Education Code 89541, if the appeal is filed within 15 working days of the notice of separation.