Absence With Pay (Part 21)

Section 21.3 - Sick Leave - (Part 1 of 2, C-1 through C-9)

C-1 Maximum Accumulation

Negotiating Units:

• Administrative Services Unit Article 10.6
• Institutional Services Unit Article 10.7
• Operational Services Unit Article 10.8
• Professional, Scientific and Technical Services Unit Article 12.8(b)
• Rent Regulation Services Unit Article 12.7(b)
• Security Services Unit Article 14.4
• Security Supervisors Unit Article 14.4

Effect:

Employees subject to the Attendance Rules for State employees (or agency attendance rules for institution teachers) may accumulate sick leave credits to the maximums listed below and may not, except as credits are restored in accordance with Section 21.8 of the Attendance Rules, be credited with sick leave in excess of such maximums:

• Administrative Services Unit--190 days
• Institutional Services Unit--200 days
• Operational Services Unit--200 days
• Professional, Scientific and Technical Services Unit--200 days
• Rent Regulation Services Unit--200 days
• Security Services Unit--225 days
• Security Supervisors Unit--225 days

In no event may sick leave accumulations in excess of 165 days be used for retirement service credit or to pay for health insurance premiums in retirement.

Transfer of Credits

Sick leave credits accumulated and unused in excess of 150 days as provided by the subject contract items are transferred in the same way and are subject to the same limitations and restrictions as apply to the transfer of sick leave credits accumulated and unused (up to 150 days) as provided by the Attendance Rules.

When an employee moves from one negotiating unit to another and has earned and accumulated sick leave credits in excess of the maximum accumulation allowed employees in the latter unit, such employee may transfer the total accumulation but cannot be credited with additional sick leave until the sick leave accruals so transferred fall below the allowable maximum in the unit to which he/she has transferred.

TM-6 - No Substantive Changes - January 1991

C-2

Restoration of Unused Sick Leave Credits

Sick leave credits earned and unused in excess of 150 days as provided by the subject contract items at the time of separation are restored to employees in the same way and subject to the same limitations and restrictions as apply to the restoration of sick leave credits accrued up to 150 days as provided by the Attendance Rules.

An employee otherwise entitled to restoration of sick leave credits upon reinstatement or reemployment is entitled to restoration of all sick leave credits earned and unused at the time of separation irrespective of whether the employee has received additional retirement service credit for such leave credits.

TM-6 - No Substantive Changes - January 1991

C-3 Rate of Accumulation

Negotiating Units:

• Professional, Scientific & Technical Services Unit Article 12.8(a)
• Rent Regulation Services Unit Article 12.7(a)

Effect:

Employees initially hired into State service on or after April 1, 1982 will be subject to the 10-day per year sick leave accrual rate established by (1) the 1982-85 State-PEF agreement and continued in the 1985-88 and 1988-91 agreements or (2) the 1984-85 State-DC37 agreement and continued in the 1985-88 and 1988-91 agreements. Employees on the payroll in State service prior to April 1, 1982 will be subject to the 13-day per year sick leave accrual rate established by the Attendance Rules.

The following rates of accumulation have been set for employees earning at the rate of 10 days per year:

1. For full-time employees whose basic workweek is 40 hours: 3 hours each qualifying biweekly pay period plus two additional hours annually on the employee's anniversary date.
2. For full-time employees whose basic workweek is 37 1/2 hours: 2 3/4 hours each qualifying biweekly pay period plus 3 1/2 hours annually on the employee's anniversary date.
3. Part-time employees who meet the eligibility requirements to accrue sick leave shall earn sick leave on a prorated basis determined by the percent of full-time scheduled and the appropriate full-time workweek rate (40 hours or 37 1/2 hours).

In addition to establishing accrual rates, employees must be categorized as subject to the 13-day accrual rate set by the Attendance Rules or subject to the 10-day rate set by the above agreements.

The contracts intend that any employee initially hired into State service on or after April 1, 1982 be governed by the 10-day contract accrual rate. This means that any employee initially hired on or after April 1, 1982, regardless of bargaining unit, will be subject to the contract accrual rate upon subsequent movement to the PS&T Unit or the Rent Regulation Unit. Alternatively, if an employee who is eligible to accrue 10 days' sick leave annually under the PS&T or Rent Regulation agreement moves to a position in another unit which is subject to the 13-day rate provided in the Attendance Rules, such employee will be eligible to accrue at the 13-day rate on the effective date of the move.

TM-6 - No Substantive Changes - January 1991

C-4

For example:

1. A full-time annual salaried employee initially hired into state service and appointed to a PS&T position on May 6, 1982 earns sick leave at the rate of 10 days per year. This same employee moves to an M/C position on May 27, 1982. Effective May 27, he/she becomes eligible to earn sick leave at the rate of 13 days per year.
2. A full-time annual salaried employee was hired into an M/C position on August 27, 1981 and transferred to a PS&T position on April 15, 1982. This employee continues to earn sick leave at the rate of 13 days per year.
3. A full-time annual salaried employee is initially hired into State service in an ASU position on April 22, 1982 and earns sick leave at the rate of 13 days per year. On August 12, 1982, this individual moves to a PS&T position. Effective August 12 he/she becomes eligible to accrue sick leave at the rate of 10 days per year.
4. A full-time annual salaried employee moved from New York City service to State service on April 1, 1984 under Section 70 of the Civil Service Law into the Rent Regulation Services Unit. This employee was initially hired into City service on September 10, 1979 so he/she has "creditable service" prior to April 1, 1982 and will earn sick leave at the 13-day rate. (Employees in the Rent Regulation Unit who transferred to State service on April 1, 1984, pursuant to law, were entitled to have service prior to April 1, 1984 with New York City or the Conciliation and Appeals Board [CAB] counted as State service for attendance and leave purposes.)

The sick leave accrual rate for individuals hired on or after April 1, 1982, but who have previous creditable State service, will be determined in a manner consistent with the provisions of the Attendance Rules concerning the crediting of former service. For example, an employee who resigns and is reinstated within one year of the date of separation is entitled to service credit for employment prior to resignation and, therefore, would accrue sick leave at the rate of 13 days per year. For further information, see Section 21.2 of this Manual on crediting of previous service.

TM-6 - No Substantive Changes - January 1991

C-5 Minimum Units of Liquidation

Negotiating Units:

• Administrative Services Unit Article 10.7(a)
• Operational Services Unit Article 10.9(d)
• Professional, Scientific and Technical Services Unit Article 12.9(b)
• Rent Regulation Services Unit Article 12.8(b)

Effect:

Employing agencies may not require employees in the negotiating units listed above to use sick leave in units greater than 1/4 hour but may permit liquidation in smaller units of time. This means that an employee may be allowed to charge a 35-minute absence against sick leave credits as a 45-minute charge (three 1/4-hour units). In accordance with a "local arrangement," he/she may be allowed to charge such an absence as a 40-minute charge (four 10-minute units) or as a 35-minute charge (seven 5-minute units) or on a minute-by-minute basis. Such local arrangements as may have been in effect when these items became effective (ASU-4/1/79, OSU-4/1/82, PS&T-12/7/79, RRSU-4/1/84) are not superseded by the subject contract item and cannot be terminated unilaterally.

TM-6 - No Substantive Changes - January 1991

C-6 Leave for Bereavement or Family Illness

Negotiating Units:

• Administrative Services Unit Article 10.13
• Institutional Services Unit Article 10.17
• Operational Services Unit Article 10.9(a) and (c)
• Professional, Scientific and Technical Services Unit Article 12.18
• Rent Regulation Services Unit Article 12.14
• Security Services Unit Article 14.3
• Security Supervisors Unit Article 14.3

Effect:

Subdivision (f), Section 21.3 of the Attendance Rules provides that absences necessitated by illness or death in the employee's family may be charged to sick leave credits up to a maximum of 15 days each calendar year. (Note: For the Attendance Rules, family is defined as any relative or relative-in-law or any other persons with whom the employee makes his/her home. See this Section, p. 3.) These contract items are designed to prohibit unreasonable denials of employee requests for such use of sick leave credits and, for employees in the Administrative Services and Professional, Scientific and Technical Services Units who request leave for death in the family, to ensure that such requests will be approved subject only to reasonable evidence of need.

Employees who request sick leave for reasons of family illness may be required to present evidence of the illness, family relationship or need of the ill person for the services of the employee. Employees who request sick leave for reasons of death in the family may be required to present evidence of the death, the family relationship and the need for the total amount of leave requested. Appointing authority denials of employee requests are grievable as contract grievances.

Although prior approval is normally required for the use of sick leave for family illness or to attend a funeral in the case of death in the family, such requirement may be waived at the discretion of the appointing authority and should be waived if the employee presents a satisfactory explanation of the reasons for failing to secure such prior approval.

For employees in the Security Services and Security Supervisors Units the definition of family, for the purpose of using sick leave for illness or death, is limited to the employee's spouse, child, parent, grandparent, brother, sister, parent-in-law, brother-in-law, sister-in-law, grandchild or other relative living in the employee's household.

TM-6 - No Substantive Changes - January 1991

C-7

For the purpose of applying these contract provisions in all other units, the definition of family contained on page 3 of this Section continues to apply. This definition covers all relatives and relatives-in-law regardless of the location of their residences, but non-relatives must be residing with the employee. The Institutional Services Unit agreement contains this same definition of family so it does not provide any benefit not already available to these employees. The ISU contract article does make denials of leave based on the definition of family grievable as a contract grievance.

TM-6 - No Substantive Changes - January 1991

C-8 Use by Disabled Veterans

Negotiating Units:

• Administrative Services Unit Article 10.7(b)
• Institutional Services Unit Article 10.20(b)
• Operational Services Unit Article 10.9(e)

Effect:

For employees in the subject bargaining units who are disabled veterans, these contract articles exempt sick leave absences to obtain treatment for service-connected disabilities at Veterans' Administration facilities from review under agency absenteeism control programs.

When an employee requests such exemption, agencies may require the employee to provide documentation to substantiate both that the disability is service-connected and the absence was for treatment for that disability. This provision is not intended to apply to time spent at Veterans' Administration facilities for treatment or services not related to the service-connected disability.

Absences for the purpose of obtaining treatment for service-connected disabilities at Veterans' Administration facilities should be charged to sick leave first; if the employee has no sick leave available, absence may be charged to vacation, personal leave, holiday leave or overtime compensatory time. Regardless of the leave category the absence is charged against, substantiated by documentation, it is to be excluded from an agency absenteeism/sick leave control program and any related attendance records review.

TM-6 - No Substantive Changes - January 1991

C-9 Advance Notification of Sick Leave Absence

Negotiating Unit:

• Institutional Services Unit Article 10.8

Effect:

This contract provision confirms that an ISU employee must notify his/her supervisor within two hours of the start of his/her workday on the first day of sick leave absence of the reason(s) for and duration of the absence. If the duration is not known, the employee must call in on each day of absence until a return date is established. This is consistent with the Attendance Rules and their application. In addition, an ISU employee who is absent because of illness and whose work is such that a substitute may be required cannot be required to give notification of such absence more than one hour before the beginning of the employee's workday. Such employee may be requested to give more than one hour's advance notice but may not be required to do so.

This article also provides that, although employees are responsible for providing appropriate notice of absence consistent with agency call-in procedures, no employee shall be denied use of sick leave solely on the basis of not having spoken directly to his/her supervisor.

TM-6 - No Substantive Changes - January 1991

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