Le Moyne College recognizes that illness or injury may cause an employee to be absent from work. This policy is also intended to provide employees with paid time off for certain sick and safe reasons as set forth below in accordance with the New York State Paid Sick Leave Law (NYPSL).
Sick leave shall be compensated at the employee's regular hourly rate at the time such leave is taken. Sick pay will not be calculated in determining eligibility for overtime pay. When summer hours are in effect, Friday will count as a full day when calculating sick leave.
Sick leave will be available for use upon hire.
Note: This policy applies to all non-bargaining unit employees. Bargaining unit employees should refer to their applicable collective bargaining agreement for information regarding sick time benefits.
Sick Leave Allotment:
• All full-time and part-time exempt employees do not formally accrue sick leave, but will be granted paid sick leave when used for any NYPSL qualifying reason. Employees who telecommute or work outside of New York State are only covered for any hours when they are physically working in New York State.
• All full-time non-exempt employees are eligible to accumulate sick leave of 0.0462 per hour worked up to a maximum of 70 days (490 hours/7 hour day employee or 560 hours/8 hour day employee).
• All part-time non-exempt employees are eligible to accumulate 0.0333 sick leave per hour worked up to a maximum of 70 days.
Reasons for Use:
Employees may use sick leave under this policy for any of the following reasons:
1. The mental or physical illness, injury, or health condition of the employee or the employee’s family member, regardless of whether such illness, injury, or health condition has been diagnosed or requires medical care at the time that such employee requests such leave, as well as the diagnosis, care or treatment of the same;
2. An absence from work when an employee or an employee’s family member has been the victim of domestic violence, a family offense, sexual offense, stalking, or human trafficking, including leave to:
a. Obtain services from a domestic violence shelter, rape crisis center, or other services program;
b. Participate in safety planning, temporarily or permanently relocate, or take other actions to increase the safety of the employee or the employee’s family members;
c. Meet with an attorney or social services provider to obtain information and advice on, and prepare for and participate in, any criminal or civil proceeding;
d. File a complaint or domestic incident report with law enforcement;
e. To enroll children at a new school;
f. Meet with a district attorney’s office; and
g. Take any other actions necessary to ensure the health or safety of the employee or the employee’s family member, or to protect those who associate or work with the employee.
*An employee who committed the domestic violence, family offense, sexual offense, stalking, or human trafficking (and was not a victim) is not eligible for leave under this Section 2, nor may this leave be used on behalf of an employee’s family member who has engaged in any of these infractions.
For purposes of this policy, “family member” is defined as an employee’s child (including biological child, adopted child, foster child, a legal ward, or a child for whom the employee stands “in loco parentis”), spouse, domestic partner, parent (including biological parent, foster parent, step-parent, adoptive parent, legal guardian, or an individual who stood “in loco parentis” to the employee as a minor child), sibling, grandchild or grandparent, and the child or parent of an employee’s spouse or domestic partner.
All other terms are defined in accordance with NYSPSL.
Note: Permissible reasons to use accrued paid sick leave do not include a period of bereavement.
Carryover: All nonexempt employees are permitted to carryover any accrued, unused sick leave into the following year. However, all non-exempt employees are not permitted to accumulate sick leave of more than 490 hours for a 7 hour day employee or 560 hours for a 8 hour day employee in a year.
Payout: Employees who resign or who have been terminated for any reason will not be paid for any accrued, unused sick leave at termination.
Non-exempt employees retiring from the College with fifteen (15) or more years of service will be paid one-half day of pay for each accumulated sick day, up to a maximum of 245 hours based on a 35-hour work week or 280 hours based on a 40-hour work week. All accrued, unused sick time over these maximum hours will be forfeited upon termination. Employees age 55 and older who retire from the College with at least ten (10) years of service will be paid one-half day of pay for each accrued, unused sick day.
Notification: Employees must notify Le Moyne College Office of Human Resources by either oral or written notice prior to using any accrued sick leave for NYSPSL qualifying reasons. When using sick leave, Le Moyne College may require a doctor’s note or other documentation to the extent permissible by law. Employees will not be required to disclose confidential information in order to use paid sick leave for NYSPSL qualifying reasons.
If employees are absent in excess of seven (7) days, including 5 consecutive work days, due to illness or injury they should review the short-term disability policy and follow the instructions to apply for short term disability.
Interaction with Other Types of Leave: Time off taken under this policy will run concurrently with leave under the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) and the New York State Disability Benefits Law (DBL) whenever applicable. Please refer to those policies for details regarding the use of sick leave.
Employees who have used up their available sick leave and remain unable to report for work may be eligible for New York State Disability Benefits Law (DBL), New York State Paid Family Leave (PFL), Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) and/or an unpaid medical leave. Please refer to those policies for details.
Protection from Retaliation: Le Moyne College will not discriminate and/or retaliate against any employee for inquiring about or using sick leave benefits or for filing a complaint for violations of this policy. Employees who believe they have experienced discrimination and/or retaliation should immediately notify their supervisor, Human Resources, or any member of management.
Restoration to Employment: Employees who return to work at the conclusion of approved paid sick leave will be restored to the same position (with the same employment benefits, pay and other terms and conditions of employment).
Records Request: Employees may make a request with the Office of Human Resources either in writing or verbally, for a summary of the amount of PSL accruals that have been both accumulated and used by the employee in the current calendar year and/or any previous calendar years. The Office of Human Resources will provide this information to the employee within three business days of the information request. Fraud: An employee who fraudulently uses sick leave, or who uses sick leave in an improper manner, is subject to disciplinary action, up to and including termination of employment.
Questions: Employees with questions about this policy are encouraged to consult with the Office of Human Resources.
For more information regarding New York State Paid Sick Leave please visit https://www.ny.gov/programs/new-york-paid-sick-leave