Sick leave-accruing personnel begin earning sick leave from the time they are employed; it is credited on the last day of each pay period. Employees may only use what is in the balance prior to future accrual.
Regardless of the amount of sick leave approved by your supervisor, sick leave may be used only in the amount necessary to bring you back to your regular FTE, not to exceed the 40-hour workweek.
- Sick leave may be used for an employee’s illness, or injury, or exposure to a contagious disease, medical appointments, including disability caused, or contributed to, by pregnancy. Additionally, sick leave may also be used in reasonable amounts for an immediate family member’s illness, or injury, or medical appointment or death.
- Employees may be required to submit documentation from a health care provider after each occurrence of sick leave if their usage is considered excessive. The supervisor and unit director will jointly determine excessive leave decisions.
- When possible, employees should try to schedule routine medical appointments for times that are least disruptive to the team. Employees shall notify and obtain approval from their supervisors prior to scheduling and using leave for routine medical appointments.
- Employees who follow unanticipated absence notification after a requested and denied vacation leave will be required to submit documentation from a health care provider upon returning to work.
- Where an employee has exhausted their accrued sick leave, future unscheduled absences will result in leave without pay, unless the absence is FMLA-qualifying (for which accrued vacation leave can be used, see FMLA information below).
Medical Certification for Sick Leave
In accordance with UF policy, at the discretion of the immediate supervisor or other appropriate authority, medical certification of sick leave use may be required under the following circumstances:
- When Academic Personnel, TEAMS or USPS employee’s absences are excessive.
- When a pattern has emerged (an example would be employees who consistently call in sick on the Friday prior to a three-day weekend).
- When an employee has been absent three times in any 30-day period. These absences need not be full days.
- When an employee has a single occurrence of three or more days absence.