Human Resources

Date: January 2008

Personal Emergency Time

All benefits-eligible employees may use up to two days or 16 hours (pro-rated for part-time employees) of accrued sick time per calendar year for unforeseen personal emergencies. Just as with an absence for a personal illness, the employee must notify his/her supervisor in a timely manner regarding the need to use Personal Emergency Time.

Examples of personal emergencies include: furnace or hot water heater malfunction, unforseen auto repair or accident, or other unexpected household emergencies. Absences which would not qualify for personal emergency time include: time needed for automobile registration, mortgage closing, or shopping; a scheduled court appearance; or time needed for routine home/auto repairs or delivery of household items; and care for immediate family members (see Family Care Absences below).

All employees are required to record these days appropriately as Personal Emergency Time on their time record. Should an employee have no accrued sick time available, he/she may substitute accrued vacation for the remaining part of the absence that would otherwise be unpaid. If sick and vacation time are exhausted, the Personal Emergency Time may be unpaid.

Family Care Absences

It is the policy of the College to allow employees to use up to forty (40) hours of accrued sick and/or vacation time in a calendar year to care for immediate family members who are injured or ill. For the purposes of this policy, an immediate family member includes an employee’s child, spouse, domestic partner, or parent.

An absence to care for an immediate family member will first be charged against an employee’s accrued sick time. In the event the employee has no remaining sick time, an absence to care for an immediate family member will be charged against an employee’s accrued vacation time. In the event the employee has no remaining accrued sick or vacation time, an employee may be authorized to take the time unpaid.

Just as with an absence for a personal illness, the employee must notify his/her supervisor in a timely manner regarding the need to miss work in order to care for an immediate family member who is ill or injured. The College also reserves the right to require verification of illness as it does in situations involving the employee’s own illness.

If an employee will require more than three (3) days away from work to care for an immediate family member who is injured or ill, the employee must contact the Human Resources Department to apply for a Family Medical Leave of Absence. While on a family medical leave, the employee may continue to use accrued time in accordance with the terms of this policy.