Procedures
- Catastrophic medical leave may be granted for a maximum of four weeks (i.e., 20 work
days, exclusive of any university holiday) during any 12-month period and will only
be granted as consecutive, full days.
- It cannot be approved as intermittent leave (e.g., every other day off) or under a
reduced work schedule arrangement (e.g., just working four hours daily).
- Employees on an approved catastrophic medical leave will also be paid for any university
holiday that occurs during the approved period of the catastrophic medical leave.
The holiday will not count as a day in the approved catastrophic medical leave period.
- Employees on an approved catastrophic medical leave will continue to receive their
salary, and all of the fringe benefits available to full-time, regular employees will
be continued.
- The monthly premiums for all voluntary or supplemental benefits (e.g., family medical,
family dental, dependent life insurance, supplemental life insurance) elected by the
employee will be paid through the regular payroll deduction method.
- Catastrophic medical leave will count toward the allowable period of Family and Medical
Leave as delineated in Section 7.7 of this handbook. Availability of allowable Family and Medical Leave time is not a
determining factor in eligibility for catastrophic medical leave.
- Employees granted catastrophic medical leave must apply for long-term disability.
- Catastrophic medical leave cannot be continued once an employee is approved for long-term
disability even if the approved period of the catastrophic medical leave has not been
completed.
Catastrophic medical conditions
The determination of whether an employee's medical condition qualifies as a catastrophic
medical condition will be based upon the documentation provided by the employee's
licensed health care provider that the employee suffers from an extreme, life-threatening
illness, injury or impairment (physical or mental) which requires continuing treatment/supervision
by a health care provider and which is likely to cause the employee to take a prolonged
leave without pay or to terminate employment with the university.
While a comprehensive list of specific medical conditions that would qualify an employee
for catastrophic medical leave is not provided, the medical conditions listed here
could be so extremely serious as to qualify for the leave. This list should not be
considered as all inclusive or a guarantee of leave approval because each request
is reviewed and considered on its own merits.
- Cancer
- Stroke
- Serious heart conditions
- Organ failure/transplant
- Fetal endangerment
- Coma
Applying for catastrophic medical leave
Applications for Catastrophic Medical Leave are available in the office of human resources.
To apply for catastrophic medical leave, an employee must complete a Catastrophic Medical Leave Request form and provide a certification from his/her physician regarding the extreme, life-threatening
illness, injury or impairment (physical or mental) which requires continuing treatment/supervision
by a health care provider.
Catastrophic medical leave review committee
In order to promote university-wide consistency in the granting of catastrophic medical
leave and the length of such leaves, all requests for catastrophic medical leave will
be reviewed by the Catastrophic Medical Leave Review Committee. If necessary, the
committee may request that the employee or other persons familiar with the employee's
situation or who can offer expertise on the matter being considered meet with the
committee. The committee should render its opinion and recommendation to the office
of human resources within 10 working days of receipt of the request and all relevant
documentation and information.
Approval of catastrophic medical leave
Approval authority for granting a request for catastrophic medical leave rests with
the requesting employee's cost center administrator. Cost center administrators will
be required to fund any additional costs incurred by granting of catastrophic medical
leave, such as the costs in hiring a temporary employee or the costs for supplemental
salary paid to an employee who picks up the workload of the employee on catastrophic
medical leave. The cost center administrator should render his/her decision within
five working days of receipt of the request.
Appeal of catastrophic medical leave
If the decision by the cost center administrator is to deny the request for catastrophic
medical leave or to grant a period of leave different (i.e., fewer days or more days)
from the period recommended by the committee, the employee requesting the leave may
appeal the decision to the university president.
Forms and publications
Forms
