Sick Time Off (Paid)

Sick time off (also called sick leave) is paid time off and may be taken when a benefits-eligible faculty member is unable to work due to illness or injury, or when an immediate family member is sick or injured.

Entitlement and Accrual

Benefits-eligible faculty members earn paid sick time off from the first day of their payroll appointment period (e.g., August 16 for most fall appointments and January 1 for most spring appointments), then on the first of each month that the faculty member is appointed for work.

Full-time faculty earn sick time off at the rate of eight (8) hours for each month or fraction of a month of employment. Faculty employed part-time (at least half-time for 4.5 months) accrue sick time off on a proportionate basis.

Use of Sick Time Off

Faculty members must inform their supervisor (e.g., director, chair, dean) of any absence due to illness or injury that occurs during the normal workday, Monday through Friday, even when no classes are missed. In the rare case that advance notice is not feasible, the faculty member should report the absence as soon as possible.

The sick time off is to be reported in Workday, either by the faculty member or by support staff in the department. This eLearning guide, Request Sick Leave in Workday, has instructions for the faculty member to enter the use of sick time off hours.

Certification from a medical provider is required when using sick time off for more than three consecutive workdays. An absence longer than three days may be eligible under the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) described below, and the medical certification submitted when applying for FMLA also serves as certification to use sick time off. A faculty member is not required to disclose personal medical information or diagnosis to their department or supervisor.

Returning to Work

When a faculty member is absent for more than three consecutive workdays due to their own personal medical condition, they must provide a return-to-work release from a medical provider before returning to work. The faculty member is not required to disclose personal medical information or diagnosis to their department or supervisor.

The provider may use this Return to Work Release form (PDF) or an alternate form, such as a doctor’s note stating the date the faculty member is released to return to work and any relevant work limitations. A return-to-work release is not required when the reason for the absence was to care for an immediate family member.

Department Responsibilities

The dean’s office or supervisor is responsible for the following:

• Inform the Provost’s Office at facultyaffairs@utexas.edu whenever a faculty member is expected to be absent for an extended period, such as a month or longer, especially if the absence may result in a reduction to compensation.
• Submit the online Request for FMLA Information form when a faculty member informs that they have a medical condition which may cause an absence longer than three work days or on an intermittent basis (See Family and Medical Leave Act below).
• Track available time off balances, enter absences into Workday in a timely manner, and inform the faculty member if they are at risk of exhausting all paid time off before the expected return date.
• Ensure the faculty member has a medical release to return to work, before returning, if the reason for the absence was the employee’s own health. A medical release will include the date the employee may return to work and whether there are any work restrictions. If there are work restrictions, contact the Provost’s Office at facultyaffairs@utexas.edu to discuss before the faculty member returns.

Additional information about Sick Time Off can be found on the Human Resources Sick Time Off page and Handbook of Operating Procedures 5-4210 Sick Leave Policy.

Family and Medical Leave Act

As University employees, faculty members may be entitled to take up to 12-weeks of unpaid, job-protected time off under the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) of 1993 for certain family and medical reasons, such as:

• The birth of or placement of a child for adoption or foster care.
• The care of a child, spouse or parent who has a serious health condition.
• A serious health condition that makes the employee unable to work.
• Reasons related to a family member’s service in the military, including
  • Qualifying exigency leave – Leave for certain reasons related to a family member’s foreign deployment.
    • Military caregiver leave – leave when a family member is a current servicemember or recent veteran with a serious injury or illness.

FMLA time off might be used intermittently or for a reduced work schedule depending upon guidance from the medical provider.

To be eligible for FMLA benefits, a University employee must:

• Have a total of 12 months of state service; and
• Have worked at least 1,250 hours during the 12-month period immediately preceding the commencement of leave.

A faculty member who has not met the eligibility requirements for FMLA may be eligible for Parental Time Off for absences related to the birth, adoption, or placement of a child.

FMLA Concurrent with Paid Time Off

If the reason for the absence qualifies for the use of sick time off, the faculty member will be required to use any available paid time off such as sick, vacation (if applicable), or floating holiday concurrently with FMLA hours. If all available paid time off has been exhausted, the employee will be on Unpaid Time Off while using the remaining FMLA hours. The University continues to pay its share of health insurance (premium sharing) during FMLA, even if all available paid time off has been exhausted. Refer to the Faculty Leave Types and Benefit Impacts Chart for more information.

Requesting FMLA

Faculty members must inform their supervisor (e.g., director, chair, dean) of any absence or anticipated absence. In the rare case that advance notice is not feasible, the faculty member should report the absence as soon as possible. Once informed, the department is required to request FMLA on the faculty member’s behalf, or ensure the faculty member requests FMLA, if the condition is expected to cause an absence longer than three workdays or on an intermittent basis. The faculty member is not required to disclose personal medical information or diagnosis to their department or supervisor.

Steps for requesting and using Family and Medical Leave:

• Request an FMLA packet. The faculty member can submit the Employee Request for Family and Medical Leave (Online), or the department may submit this request on the faculty’s behalf. The supervisor and the departmental HR contact will be copied when the packet is sent.
• Get certification from a medical provider. The faculty member asks their provider to send a medical certification form (included in the FMLA packet) to Human Resources. Certification from a medical provider is required when using sick time off for more than three consecutive workdays, even if the faculty member is not eligible for FMLA.
• Receive approval notice. Human Resources notifies the faculty member whether the FMLA request is approved or denied, copying the supervisor and the departmental HR contact.
• Enter the absence into Workday, recording both FMLA time off and concurrent paid time off (i.e., sick, vacation (if applicable), floating holiday) or Unpaid Time Off. This can be done by the faculty member or support staff in the department.

Department Responsibilities

If an employee is eligible for FMLA and is absent for an FMLA qualifying reason, federal law requires the University to track the absence as FMLA. The dean’s office or supervisor is responsible for the following:

• Inform the Provost’s Office at facultyaffairs@utexas.eduwhenever a faculty member is expected to be absent for an extended period, such as a month or longer, especially if the absence may result in a reduction in compensation.
• Submit the online Request for FMLA Information any time they become aware that a faculty member has/had an event which may qualify for FMLA. For example: birth of a child, adoption or illness/injury that is expected to be longer than three workdays or on an intermittent basis.

Additional information about Family and Medical Leave can be found on Human Resources FMLA page, or contact the HR Leave Management team at 512-475-8099 or HRS-LM@austin.utexas.edu.

Additional Time Off Benefits

Follow the links provided below to find details about these time off options which can be available to faculty as employees of the University.

• Sick Leave Pool is a reserve of paid sick time off hours donated by University employees to provide eligible employees with paid sick time off for catastrophic medical conditions.
• Family Leave Pool is a reserve of paid time off hours donated by University employees to assist eligible University employees caring for themselves or a family member due to illness, birth, adoption, or foster placement.
• Sick Time Off Donation Program allows an employee to donate unused sick time off to another eligible employee if the recipient has exhausted their own sick time off and other paid time off options.
• Emergency Time Off / Funeral Time Off allows for paid emergency time off for up to three (3) days when there is a death in the household or the immediate family. Paid time off is also available for emergencies involving campus closures or other significant events as defined by the policy.
• Wellness Time Off provides eligible employees up to eight (8) hours of wellness time off each fiscal year.
• Other Paid Time Off including, but not limited to, options such as Jury Duty

Leave Without Pay

Faculty members may request the following types of leave:

• Full or partial leave (Academic) – absence related to position responsibilities and without pay.
• Full or partial leave (Personal) – absence for personal reasons and without pay.

Find more details on Faculty Leave Types and Benefit Impacts.

Academic Leave

When requesting a leave for academic pursuits, the faculty member should initiate the conversation with their supervisor at least two to three months in advance of the semester begin date. The CSU should complete a Faculty Request for Leave (FRL) form using the Faculty Affairs and Academic Personnel Services Portal. The form will route to the faculty member for review, then within the CSU for approvals.

In addition, the faculty member requesting leave is required to submit a Prior Approval Request in UTRMS-COI for professional leaves.

Once the FRL is approved by the appropriate chair(s), director(s) and/or dean(s), it will route to Academic Personnel Services (APS) for review. The FRL must include a justification explaining why the leave is in the best interest of the University and how it will increase the teaching effectiveness or scholarly productivity of the individual. It also should specify what the faculty member will be doing while on leave and from where they will be receiving compensation, if any.

Upon approval of the FRL, APS will enter the faculty member’s leave status into Workday.

HR Benefits will reach out to the faculty member about continuing insurance coverage. Find more details on Faculty Leave Types and Benefit Impacts, and on the HR webpage Insurance Options while on Leave of Absence without Pay (LWOP).

Personal Leave

When requesting leave without pay due to personal reasons, the department or faculty member can submit a Faculty Request for Leave form using the Faculty Affairs and Academic Personnel Services Portal. The FRL form should not include any personal medical information. The general reason for the absence can be stated without any details about diagnosis, treatment, or symptoms.

Remember that when the absence qualifies for sick time off, the faculty member must exhaust any available paid time off (i.e., sick, vacation (if applicable), floating holiday) before unpaid status begins. The departmental support team should ensure absences are entered into Workday in a timely manner and see that an FRL is submitted when it becomes apparent that the faculty member will exhaust all available paid time off hours. While the faculty member has FMLA or Parental Leave hours to be used, the department will continue documenting the absence in Workday. When there is no concurrent FMLA or Parental Leave, and the unpaid period will be longer than one month, APS enters the faculty member’s Leave of Absence status into Workday. The Faculty Request for Leave form is necessary whenever a faculty member will be in unpaid status.

Department Responsibilities

The dean’s office or department chair is responsible for the following:

• Inform the Provost’s Office at facultyaffairs@utexas.edu whenever a faculty member is expected to be absent for an extended period, such as a month or longer, due to illness or injury, especially if the absence may result in Unpaid Time Off.
• Submit the Faculty Request for Leave form using the Faculty Affairs and Academic Personnel Services Portal. The form will route to the faculty member, chair or chair delegate (if departmentalized), and the dean or dean designate for approval before it routes to APS for review.
• Track available time off balances, enter absences into Workday in a timely manner, and inform the faculty member when they are at risk of exhausting all paid time off before the expected return date.
• Ensure the faculty member has medical release to return to work, before returning, if the reason for the absence was the employee’s own health. An acceptable medical release will include the date the employee may return to work and whether there are any work restrictions. If there are work restrictions, contact the Provost’s Office at facultyaffairs@utexas.edu to discuss before the faculty member returns.

Development Leave for Tenured Faculty

Faculty Development Leave (FDL) provides tenured faculty members with paid leave from teaching and service responsibilities to allow them to focus on research, scholarship, and creative endeavors. At other universities, this type of leave is commonly called a “sabbatical.” Go to this page to find more information about FDL.

Development Award for Professional-Track Faculty

For professional-track faculty, the Faculty Development Award (FDA) program is designed to recognize excellence and to provide up to $10,000 to support professional development opportunities and activities for each awardee. Go to this page for more information about FDA.

Modified Instructional Duties

Family circumstances other than illness may prevent a faculty member from being able to perform regular classroom teaching duties. A modified instructional duties (MID) arrangement allows a full-time faculty member to take a semester away from classroom instruction by focusing on alternate academic and non-instructional duties.

Faculty may consider requesting MID for a semester in which they will be the principal caregiver of a pre-school child, or while caring for or assisting an immediate family member. MID is a preplanned arrangement for the semester and should not be viewed as an alternative to using sick time off.  While on MID faculty continue to work full-time and receive full pay, so any absences that occur during MID are to be documented using the appropriate time off type (e.g., sick, FMLA, etc.).

MID is not a leave of absence or time off, and does not affect a tenure-track faculty member’s probationary clock. Extension of the probationary period can be requested separately.

The department chair and/or dean will consider any MID proposal within the context of the instructional needs of the department or program.

Steps for application and approval:

• Faculty member submits proposal to department chair (dean in non-departmentalized colleges/schools).
  • Statement explaining the need for MID (to care for or assist an immediate family member).
  • Detailed proposal of the work to be achieved in place of normal instructional responsibilities.
• Chair and/or dean will review the proposal and forward it, along with their recommendation using the Modified Instructional Duties Form in the Faculty Affairs and Academic Personnel Services Portal.
  • The forwarded proposal should include a method for evaluation of the work by the department chair or dean during the semester.
• APS will review and final determinations are sent to the faculty member and CSU.

For more detailed information, see the full policy: HOP 2-2240 Modified Instructional Duties

Probationary Period Extensions for Tenure-Track Faculty

A tenure-track faculty member who determines that certain personal circumstances may impede their progress toward tenure may submit a request for an extension of the probationary period specifying the reasons for the requested extension. Go to this page to find more information and FAQs.

Personal Circumstances Flag for Professional-Track and Tenured Faculty

Professional-track and tenured faculty have the opportunity to designate a year within the scope of a multi-year review as having been impacted by personal circumstances. Go to this page to find more information.

Guide for Faculty Who Are Expecting a Child

A quick reference guide for faculty who are expecting family changes, due to the birth of a child, or the adoption or foster care placement of children.

Request Help

The information provided here is intended as a summary only. If you have additional questions after reviewing these resources, please submit a Request Help ticket through the Faculty Affairs and Academic Personnel Services portal.