Paid Leave

Paid leave benefits are provided according to the terms of the appropriate collective bargaining agreement or the management working conditions document.

Certain categories of paid leave are accrued (or earned) by employees on a semi-monthly basis.  Accrued leave is not available for use until it has been added to the employee's leave balance.  Leave that is granted is available for use at the beginning of the academic year for faculty and the beginning of the calendar year for classified and management employees.  Leave balance information is available to all employees on-line via ExpressLane.

Medical Verification of Sick Leave

Employees who are absent from work for more than three consecutive days may be required by Human Resources to provide medical verification of the cause for his or her absence.  All employee medical information is confidential.

Sick Leave Accrual for Non-bargaining Unit Employees

Employees hired before 7/1/00, who are not covered by a collective bargaining agreement may continue to accrue sick leave or establish eligibility for sick leave accrual after that date.  Such employees are grandfathered under a past practice that allowed sick leave accrual for employees in PERS-eligible positions.  Non-bargaining unit employees hired after 6/30/00 may be eligible to accrue sick leave under Oregon's Sick Time Law effective January 1st, 2016.  Eligible employees will accrue one (1) hour of sick leave for every thirty (30) hours worked, up to a maximum of 40 hours per calendar year.

Unpaid Leave

Unpaid leave is available to employees according to the terms of the appropriate collective bargaining agreement or management working conditions document for that group or as provided by state law.

Approval for Short-term Leaves

Requests for short-term leaves (nine consecutive days or less) should be reviewed and acted upon by the department administrator according to the guidelines provided in the appropriate collective bargaining agreement or law. Human Resources staff are available to answer questions.

Approval for Long-term Leaves

All leaves (except vacation and faculty and management professional development leaves) in excess of 10 consecutive working days are considered to be long-term leaves and require both department administrator and Human Resources review and approval.  A Request for Leave of Absence Form is available in Human Resources for this purpose and should be routed by the department administrator as indicated on the form.

Approval for Medical Leaves

Employees requesting paid or unpaid medical leave in excess of 10 working days must provide a doctor's statement before the leave can be approved.  At the end of the approved medical leave, a physician's release is required before the employee can return to work.  Department administrators may allow employees to return to work following a medical leave when they have a statement from the employee's physician releasing the employee to return to work and clearly explaining any activity restrictions. Department administrators will not communicate directly with or contact an employee's physician about the medical status of an employee on medical leave without written consent of the employee.

Department administrators are asked to notify Human Resources when an employee's short-term sick leave needs to be extended into a long-term medical leave so that arrangements can be made for the employee to complete a leave request form.

Failure to Obtain Approval for Use of Leave

Department administrators are asked to contact Human Resources when an employee takes an unauthorized leave of absence.   In certain situations, disciplinary action may be appropriate.

Reporting Leaves

All short and long-term leaves taken by employees should be reported on the employee's timesheet via Expresslane.  Department administrators and payroll approvers are responsible for reviewing the timesheets for accuracy for all department employees and for certifying that the timesheets reflect actual leave usage during the pay period.

Leave Balances

Information regarding individual employee leave balances is available via Expresslane.

Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) and Oregon Family Leave Act (OFLA)

In accordance with FMLA and OFLA laws, a qualifying leave of absence will be applied concurrently (as allowed by law) to the eligible employee's twelve week leave entitlement under FMLA and OFLA beginning with the first day of the qualifying leave.

In evaluating an employee's eligibility, the College employs a "rolling backward" leave year.  That is, the prior twelve month period is used to determine the amount of FMLA and/or OFLA leave that is available.

Each time an employee takes a leave under FMLA or OFLA, the leave entitlement is any balance of the twelve weeks which has not been used to the date of the leave for the preceding twelve months.

Questions about the accrual and usage of paid or unpaid leave should be referred to a Human Resources Analyst.