6 - 11.1

Administrative policy and procedures regarding sick leave for salaried unclassified and classified employees including faculty

  1. Policy. It shall be the policy of the university to provide paid sick leave for its employees in accordance with the provisions of sections 124.38 and 124.39  of the Ohio Revised Code.
  2. Crediting and charging of sick leave.
    1. Salaried full-time employees earn sick leave at a rate of one and one-quarter day (ten hours) for each completed month of eligible service, which shall accrue on a bimonthly basis. Part-time employees earn sick leave at a rate proportionate to the percentage of full-time eligible service.
    2. Hourly full-time employees earn sick leave at a rate of 4.64 hours per completed pay period.  Part-time hourly employees earn sick leave at a comparable rate proportionate to the percentage of full-time eligible service.
    3. Sick leave credit is also earned any time an employee is in active pay status on sick leave or vacation. This means that employees who are on sick leave, vacation, or any other type of paid leave, excluding paid parental leave and donated leave, will continue to accrue sick leave. 
    4. Full-time salaried employees cannot accrue more than ten hours of sick leave in a given month, even if they work more than regular full-time hours or accept more than a full-time workload in that month. Likewise, part-time salaried employees and all hourly employees (whether full-time or part-time) cannot earn additional sick leave beyond their normally prescribed amounts, even when they work beyond their regularly prescribed hours. 
  3. Utilization.
    1. Sick leave is charged in minimum units of fifteen minutes and should be recorded in the appropriate timekeeping system. Employees are only charged for sick leave days in which they are otherwise have been scheduled to work.
    2. A continuous period of sick leave commences with the first day of absence and includes all subsequent work days (excluding legal holidays) until the employee returns to work. No more than five days of sick leave or forty (40) hours shall be charged against any employee during any seven-day period. 
    3. Sick leave will be granted to employees, upon approval of the appointing authority, for the following reasons: 
      1. Illness or injury of the employee 
      2. Illness or injury of to a member of the employee's immediate family for whom the employee will provide care;
      3. Death of a member of the employee's immediate family; 
      4. Medical, dental or optical examination or treatment of the employee or a member of the immediate family; 
      5. When, through exposure to a contagious disease, the employee's presence on the job would jeopardize the health of the employee and/or others; and 
      6. Disability due to pregnancy and/or childbirth and related conditions including reasonable pre-delivery, delivery, and recovery time as certified by a licensed physician. 
    4. Definition of "immediate family": parent, step-parent, foster parent, sibling, step-sibling, foster-sibling, child, step-child, foster child, spouse, domestic partner, grandparent, grandchild, mother-in-law, father-in-law, daughter-in-law, son-in-law, brother-in-law, or sister-in-law,.
    5. Sick leave granted by reason of death in the immediate family will not exceed five (5) working days.
    6. Where conditions warrant, a limit of five (5) days may be allowed for the care of the employee's spouse or child during the post-natal period.
    7. An employee who becomes eligible for workers' compensation payment for their absence may choose to use sick leave before such payments are made. 
  4. Reporting and recording.
    1. For all foreseeable sick leave absences requests must be submitted to the employee’s supervisor as far as possible in advance of the date the leave is to begin.  If the need for leave is not foreseeable, the employee must provide notice as soon as possible.
    2. If an employee takes sick leave, their supervisor or unit leader may work with the benefits department to obtain documentation that verifies the need for the leave. This documentation may include, but is not limited to, a physician's certificate. The specific reason for the sick leave will remain confidential and will not be shared with the employee's department. 
    3. Sick leave records will be retained by human resources records, and academic personnel as applicable, and will be available for review by the employee during normal working hours.
    4. Employees who fail to comply with the University’s rules and regulations regarding sick leave may be subjected to disciplinary action and may not be paid for sick leave days requested. Employees who apply for sick leave with intent to defraud or who provide fraudulent documentation to support their use of sick leave shall be dismissed from employment, and shall refund the University any salary or wage paid during such sick leave. 
  5. Transfer of sick leave credits. An employee who transfers from one public agency to another, is reappointed or reinstated, or transfers from one state department to another shall, upon reentering and submitting certified evidence of accumulated sick leave, be credited with the unused balance of accumulated sick leave, provided the time between separation and reappointment does not exceed ten years. The words "public agency" as used above include the state, counties, municipalities and all board of education within the state of Ohio. The amount of sick leave transferred to state service shall not be greater than the maximum accumulation that would have been allowed if all public employment had been in the state service.
  6. Conversion of sick leave upon retirement or death.
    1. Upon retirement from university employment, or death (but not upon any other separation from employment), eligible employees (or, in the case of death, the employee’s beneficiaries) may elect to receive payment for one-fourth of the employees accrued but unused sick leave with a maximum of 240 hours.  
    2. To be eligible, employees must be in active service for the university at the time of their retirement/death and must have ten (10) or more years of service with the University, State of Ohio , and/or any of Ohio’s political subdivisions.
    3. Upon accepting such payment, all of the employees' sick leave credit accrued up to that time will be eliminated and will not be returned if the employee is subsequently reemployed by the university or in other state service. 
    4. Such payment will be made only once to any employee. That is, an employee who returns to university or other state service after retiring may accrue and use sick leave as before, but may not convert the unused sick leave at the time of a second separation from the university.
  7. The cash conversion of unused sick leave credit upon the death of an employee who meets the criteria, shall be paid in accordance with section 2113.04 of the Ohio Revised Code (release of decedents' wages without administration), or to the estate of the decedent.
Policy Effective Date:
Sep 05, 2025
Policy Prior Effective Dates: 
11/4/1977, 10/26/1979, 3/18/1982, 2/14/1983, 7/10/1985, 8/7/1985, 1/13/1989, 8/13/1990, 7/31/2002, 6/1/2007, 2/10/2012, 3/1/2015, 10/15/2015, 12/03/2018
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