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Sick leave is defined as a necessary period of absence because of the employee’s own illness or for exposure of the employee to contagious disease.

The meaning of sick leave may be extended to include a charge to the employee’s accrued sick leave time to provide medical care to a seriously ill family member as defined in the special circumstances described below. The number of days that the employee may charge to accrued sick leave time for the special circumstances described in sections 1 and 2, below, shall not exceed a total of fifteen (15) days per fiscal year.

The meaning of sick leave shall also be extended to include the following Special Circumstances:

1. Emergency Attendance.
Employee’s emergency attendance on a member of the employee’s family (mother, father, spouse, domestic partner, child, step child, foster child, grandchild, sister, brother, grandmother, grandfather) who is seriously ill.

2. Medically Certified Care.
Employee’s attendance upon the employee’s seriously ill family member (as defined above) at a hospital, health care facility, or at home, or the employee’s transport of the employee’s seriously ill family member to medical treatment, when properly certified by a Health Care Provider on the form designated in Appendix G. Use of sick leave will not be permitted where the employee has failed to provide the certified form.

Medically certified care does not cover such situations as illness not defined as seriously ill, matters unrelated to medical needs, baby-sitting, running errands, and/or running a business for the family member while he/she is ill.

Full-time employees shall accrue fifteen (15) days of sick leave in each fiscal year at the rate of one and one fourth (1-1/4) days per month. During the first year of employment, employees will earn sick leave at the rate of one (1) day per month of service except that employees appointed on July 1 will earn sick leave at the rate of one and one fourth (1-1/4) days per month.

Regularly appointed part-time staff employees accrue sick leave on the same basis as full-time employees except that such accrual shall be prorated according to the percentage of time appointed. For example, a 50% time employee earns seven and one-half (7.5) full-time days by the end of the fiscal year (fifteen (15) full-time days at 50% equals seven and one-half (7.5) full-time days.)

Unused sick leave is cumulative.

Employees are expected to notify their supervisor preferably by telephone as early as possible at the beginning of the work day on which sick leave is used and to keep the supervisor adequately informed should the absence extend beyond one day.

Employees who require more sick leave than accumulated will have their pay adjusted accordingly except that the employee may charge such time to vacation or administrative leave. In such cases, all sick leave policies will apply. Employees may request that the supervisor make available for the employee’s review a current record of the employee’s sick leave, such request will not be unreasonably denied.

Credit will be granted for documented unused sick leave accumulated during periods of previous employment at Rutgers.

Credit will also be granted for documented unused sick leave accumulated at an agency of the State of New Jersey, including a state college or university, when the individual comes to work in an eligible position at Rutgers with no break in service from the date of termination at the previous state agency.

No cash payment is made for unused sick leave except upon retirement in accordance with state legislation and implementing regulations. If the employee had a break in service, sick leave accumulated prior to the break will not be included in the lump sum calculation unless the break occurred as the result of a layoff. Further details of this payment appear in policy section University Policy Library Section 60.3.17 Unused Sick Time - Policy on the Administration of Payments to University Staff Retirees.