Sick time is provided by UAB for an employee's income protection when he/she must take time away from work for medical reasons.
Sick time may also be used for anyone who resides in the same household as the employee including a sponsored adult dependent* or children of sponsored adult dependents. A maximum of up to 3 days in a calendar year may be used for non FMLA leave time to care for qualified individuals, defined by FMLA, who do not reside in the same household as the employee. A maximum of 30 days may also be used when an employee adopts a child while on an approved Family Medical Leave of Absence. The time away must be approved by the employee's immediate supervisor.
Full-time regular or 3/12 hour shift employees will accrue at the rate of 10 days per year (6.67 hours per month or 3.08 hours per pay period). There is no maximum for the amount of sick time an employee may accrue.
Regular part-time nonexempt and Alternative Work Schedule (AWS) employees accrue prorated time based on hours paid during each pay period. Part-time regular exempt AWS employees accrue prorated time based on their assigned FTE.
The accrual rate for sick time benefits for faculty with nine-month appointments is 7.5 days for each 9 months of service under their regular appointment. Nine-month faculty working under a full-time appointment with UAB during the summer may accrue an additional 2.5 days of sick time.
Sick time is available for use during the initial six-month probationary period for an employee's own serious health condition. Credit is given based on the initial date of employment in an eligible status.
To be eligible for sick time benefits, employees must notify their department head or supervisor of the illness as early as possible in advance of their scheduled time of duty and follow departmental procedures. Employees should keep their supervisors informed of their progress and expected date of return to work.
Sick time normally will be paid for the first day without a physician's statement. Exceptions may be made in cases of suspected abuse of sick time. Physician certification may also be required for absences in excess of one day. Any employee having an absence of one or more days in each of three consecutive months may be requested to submit a physician's certification before further sick pay can be authorized.
Holidays occurring during paid sick time will be paid as holiday time and not as sick time. Illness or injury during vacation will not be considered for paid sick benefits. Also, if UAB is closed for emergency purposes (for example, bad weather) during the time an employee is using sick time, those days will still be charged to sick time.
UAB allows sick time to be taken for regularly scheduled visits to the dentist, physician, or optometrist. Employees must inform their supervisors well in advance of such appointments. If emergency work problems arise, employees may be required to cancel appointments. Supervisors should give as much warning as possible, however, to avoid cancellation penalties for the employee.
Supervisors may require that all absences be charged to accrued vacation or personal holiday time after all available sick time has been used. Except in cases of approved leave, absence without pay can be viewed as excessive absenteeism.
For all employees, current sick time balances are available through UAB Tracking Systems. Employees should contact their supervisors for information concerning discrepancies in their personal sick time balances. If supervisors have questions about accruals, they may contact HR Records Administrations at 205-934-4458. Once time is reported as sick time, it cannot be switched to another form of benefit time without a supervisor's approval.
For those employees participating in the Teacher's Retirement System (TRS), state law allows unused accrued sick time to be converted to creditable service for service retirement purposes. TRS will certify no more than a maximum of twelve sick time days per year of earned TRS service credit. Since excess, unused vacation can be converted to sick time under UAB policy at the end of each calendar year rather than being forfeited, it is possible for UAB TRS participating employees to receive such service credit for more than the ten days of annual sick time currently provided by UAB policy to eligible employees. See Policy 310 for additional information.
For those employees participating in TRS, when accepting a position at UAB after being employed with another Teachers' Retirement System participating employer, an employee may transfer any unused accrued sick time days to UAB. This policy does not apply where a break in service has occurred or if an employee is rehired into the Hospital LLC. The Teachers' Retirement System employer from which the employee has separated must certify and forward the sick time balance to UAB. It is the responsibility of the affected employee to ensure that the proper documentation is received by UAB. After employment with UAB, the employee will accrue sick time according to UAB's sick time policy. The funding and/or liability for such accruals will become the obligation of UAB.
Under certain circumstances, UAB employees may voluntarily donate, or receive, sick time days under the Sick Time Donation Policy. This policy is applicable to UAB employees, including faculty, who are eligible to accrue sick time based on their employment category.
*Sponsored Adult Dependent - a sponsored adult dependent is not a relative, is at least 19 years of age, shares a primary residence and has lived with you not as a renter, boarder, tenant or employee for at least twelve months.
Policy 303 Sick Time
Date Issued: 10/80
