Faculty Earned and Unearned Sick Leave

Historically, the university has referred to sick leave as either “earned” or “unearned.”

Earned sick leave

Referred to simply as sick leave and is defined as follows:

  • An allotment of days (at the rate of one day per month) that was given to all academic administrators/professionals who were serving in their positions on July 1, 1992 based upon the appropriate amount of sick leave they would have accumulated prior to implementation of the sick leave system for academic administrators/professionals on that date. The allotment of sick leave for service prior to July 1, 1992 was capped at 120 days and was previously referred to as “back-up” sick leave and/or
  • The accrual of days (at the rate of one day per month) after July 1, 1992, while serving in an academic administrator/professional position.

Unearned sick leave

A historical concept defined as follows:

  • Prior to Aug. 1, 2016, academic administrators and faculty with 12-month appointments were extended an initial allotment of sick leave upon assuming their duties as academic administrators or professionals; this allotment was called ‘unearned’ sick leave. Specifically, prior to Aug. 1, 2016, academic administrators and faculty with 12-month appointments were given an allotment of sick leave days based upon the faculty member’s months of service at the University (exclusive of any months of service as an academic administrator/professional), which allotment was granted at the rate of one (1) day of sick leave for each month of service, capped at a maximum of 120 days.