Policy

Procedure

General:

1. In all cases, any leave or absence must be reported on the Leave Request form currently in use in the College.
2. The Leave Request form must be completed in full, including the signatures of all appropriate supervisors.

1. The original Leave Request form must be filed with Human Resources no later than the last day of the  month in which the leave was taken.

3. The Leave Request form must be completed and approved in advance for the following leaves: annual leave, short leaves of absence, public service leave, temporary military leave, sabbatical leave, other leaves with pay, and all leaves without pay.

Contractual Personnel

This leave statement outlines the procedure for reporting of leave as defined in Policy BP 3-60. Leave must be approved by the employee's immediate supervisor.

Leaves with Pay:

Sick Leave

Purpose:
Sick leave is for the purpose of providing protection of income to eligible employees and is not to be viewed as compensation enhancement.

1. Employees within the scope of this policy and Limited Contract Faculty shall accrue sick leave. Such employees who are Administrators or non-instructional Contract Staff shall accrue at the rate of ten (10) hours for every calendar month covered by their contract of employment. Such employees who are faculty members or instructional Contract Staff shall accrue ninety (90) hours per academic year or ten (10) hours per calendar month covered by their contract of employment, whichever is greater. Sick leave will accrue during periods of leave with pay, prorated according to the percent of pay during the leave. Such accrual will be credited only upon return to work or upon retirement at the end of the paid leave. The total annual accrual allowed will be credited to faculty at the beginning of the contract term, but shall be prorated according to the portion of the year actually worked.
2. An employee who is ill should report illness to the appropriate supervisor each day, or have a representative report the illness.  A Leave Request form must be completed on the day the employee returns to work.
3. Human Resources will maintain a record of sick leave for each contractual employee. A written report of accumulated leave will be sent to each employee each month.
4. Transfer:  Accrued sick leave will be transferred if an employee is reassigned, transferred, or otherwise appointed to another position within the System which entitles the incumbent to paid sick leave.
5. Reinstatement: An employee who voluntarily terminates employment and returns within five (5) years to an eligible position within the System shall be credited with all sick leave accrued as of the date of such voluntary termination.
6.  Conversion of Sick Leave into Salary (Option available only through June 30, 2005): An employee hired before July 1, 1988, who has accumulated sick leave in excess of 360 hours as of July 1 of 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, or 2004, and who is eligible for early or regular retirement under Public Employees Retirement Association rules may elect to convert all or a portion of the excess accumulated sick leave into salary as follows. The employee may elect once during each of these fiscal years to convert into salary any portion or all of his accumulated sick leave exceeding 360 hours as of July 1 of that year. Payment for converted sick leave hours shall be at the rate of 15% of the hours converted. At the discretion of the employee, the amount paid as salary may be paid in a lump sum with the next payroll check or distributed during the remainder of the fiscal year. No payment may be made after June 30, 2005. Once an employee converts sick leave into salary pursuant to this option, the employee cannot thereafter accumulate sick leave in excess of the sick leave balance remaining after the conversion. Sick leave converted into salary pursuant to this option ceases to exist and does not count in any calculation of accrued sick leave. Any amount paid in salary pursuant to this option is not counted in the employee's base salary for the purpose of determining salary adjustments in succeeding years. Amounts paid, however, are considered salary for PERA purposes.
7. Payout: Employees hired or reinstated on or after July 1, 1989, who are approved for regular or early retirement under Public Employees' Retirement Association rules will be paid for one quarter (1/4) of sick leave accrued as of the date of retirement, or for 240 hours, whichever is less, at the rate of pay in effect on the date of retirement. Such employees who were hired prior to July 1, 1989, and had no break in service will be paid upon retirement for one-fourth (1/4) of sick leave accrued as of the date of retirement at the rate of pay in effect on the date of retirement. No less than 50 percent of the amount due shall be paid upon retirement. The balance shall be paid within a two-year period. Employees who are approved for long term disability retirement will use sick leave to the extent accumulated prior to receiving disability benefits. If accumulated sick leave is not sufficient to provide coverage until disability benefits begin, salary and benefits will be provided at one-half the employee's rate of pay for the period not covered by sick leave. In the case of death of an employee, one-fourth (1/4) of sick leave accrued on the date of death will be paid at the time of death.

Annual Leave

Non-faculty employees within the scope of this policy shall accrue annual leave at the rate of 15 hours per month prorated to the percent of employment. There shall be a maximum accrual of 360 hours. Annual leave will be earned during periods of leave with pay, prorated according to the rate of pay during the leave, but will only be credited when the employee returns to work or if the employee retires at the end of the leave.

1. This leave must be pre-arranged with the employee's immediate supervisor and properly reported to Human Resources.
2. Human Resources will maintain a record of annual leave for each contractual employee. A written report of accumulated leave will be sent to each employee each month.
3. Transfer: Accrued annual leave shall be transferred when an employee is reassigned, transferred, or otherwise appointed to another position within the System.
4. Payout: In the case of termination of employment accrued annual leave will be paid to an employee hired on or after July 1, 1989, up to a maximum of 180 hours. In the case of termination of a regular employee hired prior to July 1, 1989, the maximum payout will be 360 hours. The president shall require employees to take annual leave in lieu of payout if they were hired to fill a position on an interim basis and/or their position was funded by other than state funds as that term is described in BP 3-10. In the case of death of an employee, the total amount of annual leave accrued on the date of death will be paid.

Special Leaves With Pay 

Holidays: Non-faculty exempt employees within the scope of this policy will be granted the same number of paid holidays granted to employees granted to employees of the State Personnel System. The President may establish alternate holiday schedules in accordance with the rules and procedures of the Colorado State Personnel System.

Jury Leave: Exempt employees within the scope of this policy shall be granted jury leave with pay for the period they are required to serve on jury duty. Compensation received for jury duty during the time absent from work shall be turned over to the college/System, except for parking expenses and mileage allowance.

Military Leave: Refer to C.R.S. 28-3-601 and BP 3-60 for rights under Military Leave.

Other Leaves With Pay:  The President/System President may also grant leave with pay to exempt staff for other compelling reasons such as required appearances in court or at administrative proceedings, for disciplinary or investigatory purposes or closure of work facilities due to weather conditions, or other emergency situations.

The approval of the System President shall be required for paid leaves in excess of thirty (30) work days.

Application should be made to the appropriate supervisor or Dean, who will forward the application, together with his/her recommendation, to the College President.

Leaves Without Pay

Maximum Length:
Leave without pay may be granted for periods of up to one fiscal year at a time. Leave extending beyond the end of the current fiscal year will require review and approval by the president at the end of each fiscal year, up to a maximum of three years. If additional leave is requested at that point, the approval of the System president must be obtained.

Continuation of Benefits:
If leave without pay is granted for a period of less than one month, leave benefits will continue to accrue. Employees on leave without pay for periods of one month or more will not accrue or receive sick leave or annual leave and will not receive service credit for sabbatical leave. Further, such employees will not receive group insurance contributions but may continue coverage at their own cost.

Family & Medical Leave  (BP 3-60)

Procedure

1. To be eligible for family and medical leave employees must provide 30 days notice to the college/system office for foreseeable family leaves such as childbirth, adoption, or planned medical treatment, if possible; must have been employed by the college/system office for at least one year; and must have worked at least 1,250 hours during the previous 12 months.
2. The college/system office shall continue health care coverage by continuing to pay the college's/system office's share of the cost while the employee is on family and medical leave. If the employee chooses family coverage, the employee will be required to make payments to the college/system office for family coverage at the same rate as if actively working.
3. Upon return from the family and medical leave, the employee shall be returned to the same or a comparable position.
4. Employees may be required to use annual and/or sick leave before being eligible for unpaid family and medical leave, except that sick leave may be used only when the employee is medically unable to work or for family sick leave as defined by this policy and BP 3-60. Both paid and unpaid leave are included in the 12-week limitation. Serious health conditions means an illness, injury, impairment, or physical or mental condition that involves either inpatient care in a hospital, hospice, or residential medical care facility, or continuing treatment by a health care provider. The term is not intended to cover short-term conditions, for which treatment and recovery are very brief. Typical serious health conditions triggering eligibility for the leave include: heart attack, heart surgery, strokes, severe nervous disorders, complications resulting from pregnancy, and cancer.
5. The college/system office may require doctor's certification to verify a serious health condition which necessitates paid or unpaid leave in excess of five days; and may require, at the college's/system office's expense, a second medical opinion. To continue family and medical leave due to the serious health condition of the employee or a family member beyond 30 days, a monthly recertification may be required.
6. Husbands and wives employed by the System are limited to 12 total weeks of family and medical leave unless the leave is for a seriously ill spouse or child or for the employee's own serious illness. In those cases, the husband and wife are each entitled to twelve weeks of leave.
7. If justified by a medical necessity and requested, intermittent leave or a reduced work schedule shall be approved for a serious health condition of the employee, employee's spouse or immediate family member. Intermittent leave or a reduced work schedule may be permitted by the president for childbirth, adoption or foster placement of a child provided the total leave period does not exceed a 12 calendar week period.
8. The college/system office may temporarily transfer an employee who is on approved family and medical leave to an available alternative position with equivalent pay and benefits if it better accommodates the reduced work schedule.

Classified Personnel

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