University of Nebraska Kearney

Leave Benefits Revised (02/08/08)

Sick leave shall not be used as vacation leave. Sick leave may be granted to employees who become ill on vacation if satisfactory medical proof is submitted. Absences for dental and doctor appointments may be charged to sick leave. There is no minimum amount of sick leave that must be charged; sick leave shall be taken on a working hour basis. Holidays that fall within a period of sick leave shall not be charged to sick leave.

Up to five (5) days of sick leave may be used when illness or injury to a member of the immediate family demands the employee's presence. Immediate family means wife, husband, children, parents, grandparents, grandchildren, guardian, ward, foster child, brother, sister, daughter-in-law, son-in-law, stepfather, stepmother, stepdaughter, stepson, or persons being the same relationship to the spouse. When an absence because of illness or injury to the employee or member of the employee's immediate family exceeds three working days, an employee may be required to submit a substantiating medical certificate. If a supervisor suspects an employee may be abusing sick leave privileges, the supervisor may require a substantiating medical certificate any time the employee is absent. Sick leave shall be denied when the supervisor has facts to show that an employee is abusing sick leave privileges. Sick leave shall not accrue during leave of absence, leave without pay, suspension, or lay off.

Absences due to pregnancy, maternity, miscarriage, or abortion will be treated as any other temporary disability. The disability will begin and end when medically indicated, and accrued sick leave may be used.

Sick leave may be granted during any probationary period up to the number of hours accrued by the employee. Probationary employees shall be entitled to accrue sick leave at the same rate as regular employees.

An employee's previously accumulated sick leave is generally not affected if the employee is transferred from one University department/office to another University department/office or to another state agency. Employees returning to the University with less than three years break in service will also have the hours from their previous sick leave balance restored. Employees who retire and return to employment with the University are considered new employees and therefore accrue the same amount of sick leave as other new employees. The rate at which an employee accrues sick leave shall be computed from the service date and adjusted by breaks in service if such break in service is less than three years.

Office/Service employees who retire are paid 1/4 the value of their unused sick leave (360 hours maximum). Such payment is a one-time payment. The normal retirement age for all members of the university staff is 65 years. Employees may retire at age 55 after ten year of service with the University. Should an Office/Service employee die while in the employment of the University, their beneficiary will be paid 1/4 the value of the employee's unused accumulated sick leave (360 hours maximum).

Full-time Managerial/Professional staff members accumulate eight hours of sick leave per month for the first two years of employment. (Part-time Managerial/ Professional staff members accumulate sick leave on a prorated basis). Thereafter, the provisions for the Managerial/professional staff shall apply as follows:

Whenever a member of the full-time regular Managerial/Professional staff is temporarily disabled due to illness, accident, and in the case of female staff members due to pregnancy or maternity, such staff member upon approval of the Chancellor, shall be paid their regular salary during the period of such disability but not to exceed six months less:

• The amount they have received during such time as Workmen's Compensation; and,
• The amount required, if any amount be required, to pay any substitute who has performed all or any part of the work of the incapacitated staff member. Substitutes shall be selected by the Chancellor. Whether such a substitute shall receive pay for such work performed or be permitted to substitute gratuitously for the incapacitated staff member shall be determined by the Chancellor. Such leaves of absence may be extended beyond six months without pay upon recommendation of the Chancellor and President and approval by the Board of Regents of the University.

Office/Service Sick Leave. Sick leave accrues for full-time regular Office/Service staff at the rate of four hours per pay period or eight hours per month (96.0 hours per year) during the first five years of consecutive service. Regular part-time employees accrue sick leave on a prorated basis. During the sixth and subsequent years, the accrual rates increase until the maximum of 240.0 hours per year (30 working days/year) is reached in the 19th year of service. Accrual rates are adjusted on the pay period following the employee's anniversary date.

Effective 4/1/07
The amount of sick leave that can be accrued is 1,440 hours. Once an employee reaches 1, 440 hours, they will not accrue sick leave until the balance drops below 1, 440 hours. Sick leave is accumulated continuously and is tabulated in terms of hours according to the following table:
 

Military Leave. An employee who is a member of one of the following reserve components of the Armed Forces may be granted leave with pay up to 15 days per year to fulfill his/her service obligation:

National Guard, Coast Guard Reserve, Navy Reserve, Air Force Reserve
Army Reserve, Marine Corps Reserve.

This granting of up to 15 days paid leave for fulfillment of an employee's service obligation does not apply to an employee who receives an emergency call-up. Any University employee who is a member of the National Guard and is ordered to active duty by the Governor under emergency conditions shall be entitled to receive their full University of Nebraska at Kearney pay in addition to their military pay for the first five work days of such military service. Thereafter, during the period of such active duty, they shall be entitled to receive the difference between his/her military pay and University of Nebraska at Kearney pay provided the military pay is less than their University of Nebraska at Kearney pay.

The five work day limitation of dual pay is established for the purpose of ensuring that each University of Nebraska employee who is a member of the National Guard will have sufficient time remaining of the 15 work day authorized by Section 55-160, RRS Nebraska 1943, without using all or any part of their earned vacation leave.

If the National Guard unit the employee is assigned to, or an individual member of the Guard, is not scheduled to participate in the 15 day annual encampment prescribed by Section 55-144, RRS Nebraska 1943, the employee then may receive both University of Nebraska at Kearney pay and military pay for a maximum of 15 work days per year while serving in an emergency status. All days in excess of 15 days service shall be compensated for by the University of Nebraska at Kearney paying the difference between the University of Nebraska at Kearney pay and military pay, provided that the military pay is less than the University of Nebraska at Kearney pay.

Employees ordered to a pre-induction physical for the Armed Forces may receive one day of administrative leave with pay.

Extended Military Duty. If you are a regular University of Nebraska at Kearney employee and you leave your position to undergo military training or extended duty with the Armed Forces of the United States, or if you undertake military duty in the active service of the State, you will be entitled to a leave of absence for the period of such training and/or service, not to exceed four years. You will receive pay from the University of Nebraska at Kearney during the first 15 workdays of the leave of absence. This is not in addition to the 15 days of pay for annual training.

After the first 15 days of military leave, you will not receive pay from the University of Nebraska at Kearney in the same calendar year. If the obligation to duty extends into the next calendar year, you will receive pay for another 15 days.

If you leave the University of Nebraska at Kearney for extended military duty, you should submit to your department a request for leave of absence ten days in advance of your leave date. It is recognized that this is not always possible. You are required to notify the department within 48 hours after you have reported to duty.

Retirement contributions are made only when you are in a pay status. When you serve the guard or military in a non-pay status, you will not have retirement contributions made by the University of Nebraska at Kearney. You may continue your participation in the University health insurance program (paying the University's share plus your share), or you may switch coverage to the military's insurance program. You may reenter the University's insurance plan with no evidence of insurability within 30 days after release from the military.

Before leaving UNK for extended military duty, it is important for you to discuss insurance coverage with the Human Resources Office.

If you apply within 30 days after release from training and/or service with a certificate of satisfactory service from your military unit, you will be entitled to reinstatement to the position you formerly had at a rate of pay equal to what it would be had you not been on leave.

Your service date and your benefit accrual date will not be adjusted after a military leave of absence, and you will be entitled to any privileges, rights, and fringe benefits you would have received if your service had not been interrupted by a military leave of absence.

Sick and vacation leave accrual and holiday pay continue during a paid authorized absence under military leave. They do not continue during leave of absence without pay.

Proper documentation, including copies of your orders for any military leave of absence, must be submitted to your department.

Nebraska Family Military Leave Act  

The Nebraska Family Military Leave Act, enacted on April 4, 2007, provides unpaid leave to qualifying University employees who are spouses or parents of military service members under federal or state deployment orders.
Qualifying employees shall include any employee who:

• has been employed by the University of Nebraska for at least twelve months
• has provided at least one thousand two hundred fifty (1,250) hours of service during the twelve-month period immediately preceding the commencement of the leave
• is the spouse or parent of a person called to military service lasting over one hundred seventy-nine days or longer with the state or United States pursuant to the orders of the Governor or the President of the United States

Requests for Family Military Leave may be made to the employee’s immediate supervisor any time the deployment orders are in effect. Employees requesting five (5) or more consecutive days of Family Military Leave shall provide at least fourteen calendar day’s prior notice, and where able, will consult with the supervisor to schedule leave to avoid work disruptions. For leave of less than five (5) consecutive days, employees shall give advance notice as practical. Certification/proof of the call to service, from the proper military authority, may be required.

Maximum leave allowable under the Family Military Leave Policy shall be thirty (30) working days of unpaid leave. The employee may elect to apply accrued vacation leave, compensatory time off, or banked holiday during the leave period. (FMLA does not apply as this is not a medical issue.)

Employees involved in any of the University of Nebraska insured benefit programs may continue to participate in said programs and will receive continued employer contributions for the period of the leave. They are, however, responsible for their employee contributions required to maintain those benefits when on an unpaid status.

Upon expiration of the leave, the employee is entitled to be restored to the position held prior to commencement of leave or to an equivalent position. 

Request for Family Military Leave Form (PDF)

If an employee has two or more children at two different activations/deployments, it is considered two distinct actions.  Employees who exercise this right are protected from discrimination.

If you have any question regarding the Family Military Leave please contact the Human Resources Office at 865-8426.

Crisis Leave. In an effort to provide some measure of assistance to University employees who are experiencing a family crisis that necessitates an employee's absence, a Crisis Leave Sharing Policy was established in January 1998. (updated in April 2008)  Crisis Leave Donation Form 

Regular employees who earn vacation leave may donate up to five accumulated vacation days per calendar year to the crisis leave pool. An employee must follow four steps when making donations of vacation leave.

1. The employee completes a Donation of Crisis Leave form and forwards the form to Human Resources.
2. Human Resources verify that the donor has a sufficient balance of annual leave.
3. Human Resources records the donation and reduces the employee's vacation leave balance for the hours donated.
4. The Donation of Crisis Leave form is filed in the employee's benefit file.

Before receiving crisis leave, an employee must first exhaust all applicable sick and vacation leave and compensatory time. Crisis leave granted must also not exceed the number of vacation days the employee accrues in one year. To obtain a complete Crisis Leave Sharing Policy contact Human Resources.

Civil Leave. When an employee is called to serve as a juror or is appointed to serve as a clerk or a judge on an election board or counting board, they are entitled to any fee paid to them as a result of this service, in addition to receiving paid civil leave.

Paid leave may also be granted an employee when called to perform emergency civil duty in connection with a natural disaster such as a flood or tornado, or for emergency civilian duty in connection with national defense if the performance of such service is required during working hours. This should not be confused with leave for military duty in connection with national defense or natural disasters.

When an employee is subpoenaed to appear in court, leave with pay will normally be granted. When an employee is subpoenaed to appear in court on behalf of the state, in addition to receiving civil leave with pay, they will also receive pay for travel and subsistence when it is required. An employee who is required to appear in court as a plaintiff or defendant on a personal matter may be granted vacation leave or leave without pay.

Up to two hours of civil leave with pay may be granted to an employee for the purpose of voting, provided that the employee does not have sufficient time before or after regular working hours to cast a ballot.

Pursuant to Neb. Rev. Stat. 81-1391, an employee who is a certified disaster service volunteer of the American Red Cross may, with the authorization of their supervisor, be granted a leave not to exceed fifteen (15) working days in each year to participate in specialized disaster relief services in Nebraska for the American Red Cross, upon the request of the American Red Cross, without loss of pay, vacation time, sick leave or earned overtime accumulation.

Administrative Leave. Paid time can be granted to staff to participate in professional development activities, meetings away from campus or due to inclement weather, which closes the campus. Office/Service and Managerial/Professional staff should submit a request form to their immediate supervisor for approval in these instances.

Parental Leave. Employees who are unable to work because of a medical disability caused or contributed to by pregnancy, miscarriage, termination of pregnancy, childbirth and recovery there from, will be covered by the provisions of the University's sick leave policy or disability leave program. Employees are therefore eligible for paid leave for such absences under the provisions of the applicable leave policy.

An eight week total leave period for pre-partum and post-partum care and recovery will be considered normal; however, more or less leave time may be taken based upon individual health circumstances. This eight week period is paid leave time and does not allow the employee's pay to be reduced to compensate for a substitute.

Male employees may also take one week of paid leave upon the birth of a child because the health of the employee's spouse or child requires the employee's presence, or because such presence would be beneficial to the employee's spouse or child.

Adoption Leave 

A newly adoptive parent, who is the primary care giver may take up to eight weeks paid leave upon adoption of a child to provide care and assistance to the child chargeable to either sick leave or disability leave depending on the employee's appointment category. The declaration of which parent is the primary care giver is made by the adopting parents. The non-primary caregiver of the adopted child may take up to five days paid leave to provide assistance in the care of the child.

Adoption Leave Request Form (PDF) (Opens new window) 

Any parental leaves taken in accordance with the above parental leave policies are, by definition, related to qualifying events under the Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA), and will therefore be considered part of the twelve week FMLA leave period.

For a complete Parental Leave Policy contact Human Resources.

Funeral (Bereavement). Up to five days of paid funeral leave may be granted for each funeral in the immediate family. For each funeral of persons not in the immediate family, up to one day of paid funeral leave may be granted at the discretion of the immediate supervisor. Funeral leave shall not be charged to sick leave or vacation leave. Immediate family means wife, husband, children, parents, grandparents, grandchildren, guardian, ward, foster child, brother, sister, daughter-in-law, son-in-law, stepfather, stepmother, stepdaughter, stepson, or persons being the same relationship to the spouse.

Family and Medical Leave. Family and Medical Leave. Under University policy, in compliance with the Federal Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 (FMLA), eligible employees are provided up to 12 weeks of unpaid, job-protected leave for certain family and medical reasons. All regular Academic/ Administrative, Managerial/ Professional and Office/Service employees with an FTE of .50 or greater are eligible, as are all other employees (including temporary and graduate student employees) who have worked for the University for at least one year, and for 1,250 hours over the previous 12 months. A complete Family/ Medical leave policy can be obtained in the office of Human Resources.

Reasons For Taking Leave.  Unpaid leave will be granted for any of the following reasons:

• To address maternal/paternal concerns related to the birth of a child or the placement of a child with the employee for adoption or foster care;
   
• To care for the employee's spouse, son, or daughter, or parent, who has a serious health condition;
   
• For a serious health condition that makes the employees unable to perform the employee's job, or  in association with a death in the immediate family.

In an expansion of the Family and Medical Leave ACT (FMLA) signed into law on January 28, 2008, unpaid leave will also be granted for the following reasons:

• Twelve (12) weeks of FMLA leave due to a spouse, son, daughter or parent being on active duty or having been notified of a “qualifying exigency” arising out of the service member’s current tour of active duty or because the service member is notified of an impending call to duty in support of a contingency operation.
   
• Twenty Six (26) weeks of FMLA leave during a single 12-month period for a spouse, son, daughter, parent, or nearest blood relative caring for a recovering service member.  A recovering service member is defined as a member of the Armed Forces who suffered an injury or illness while on active-duty that may render the person unable to perform the duties of the member’s office, grade, rank or rating.

As may be required or approved by the University, certain kinds of paid leave may be substituted for unpaid leave, if such paid leave would otherwise be granted based on the reason for the absence. Absences of five or more sick days will be charged against the employee's Family/Medical Leave balance.

Advance Notice and Medical Certification. The employee may be required to provide advance leave notice and medical or military certification to their director or department chair. Leave may be denied if requirements are not met.

• The employee ordinarily must provide 30 days advance notice when the leave is "foreseeable".
• The University may require medical certification to support a request for leave because of a serious health condition, and may require other medical opinions (at the University's expense) and a fitness for duty report to work.
• The University may require certification by the employee that the covered service member is indeed on active duty.

Job Benefits and Protection 

• For the duration of approved Family/Medical Leave, the University will maintain the employee's health coverage under any University sponsored "group health plan".
• Upon return from Family/Medical Leave, employees will be restored to their original or equivalent position with equivalent pay, benefits, and other employment terms.
• The use of approved Family/Medical Leave cannot result in the loss of any employment benefits that accrued prior to the start of an employee's leave.

Unlawful Acts by Employers FMLA makes it unlawful for any employer to: 

• Interfere with, restrain, or deny the exercise of any right provided under FMLA;
• Discharge or discriminate against any person for opposing any practice made unlawful by FMLA or for involvement in any proceeding under or relating to FMLA.

Leave of Absence Without Pay. Regular employees may be granted an unpaid leave of absence of up to one year for personal reasons. Requests for such leave must be in writing and approved by the employee's immediate supervisor and the Director of Human Resources. An employee's request for leave of absence is considered when the employee's record has shown them to be of more than average value to the University and when it is desirable to retain the employee even at some sacrifice.

There are two types of leave of absence. The first is a leave of absence from the position presently being held in the University. In this case, the employee is replaced with a temporary worker, and the person on leave will be able to return to the former position. The second type is a leave of absence from the University. In this case, a regular replacement is hired in the employee's position, and the person on leave will be given preference for other similar position vacancies. A job is not guaranteed in this instance.

Accrued vacation is paid to an employee before going on leave of absence from the University, but accrued sick leave remains on record. No vacation leave or sick leave is accrued during leaves without pay.