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Leaves of Absence

Faculty Members are responsible for notifying their Department Chair before any planned absence from a scheduled class, office hour(s), or other scheduled work-related activities. Depending upon the nature of the leave, the faculty member shall seek approval from the Dean and provide written documentation as appropriate. This requirement applies even when they can arrange coverage for class instruction during their absence.

Faculty are expected to notify their Department Chair immediately in the case of sickness, or any other emergency situation, which prevents the faculty member’s presence on campus.

In the case of any faculty absence of one day or greater, whether planned in advance, or for sickness or any other emergency purposes, the Department Chair, or designee shall submit appropriate documentation for payroll reporting purposes. The faculty member should submit sick leave and/or personal holiday usage as appropriate through Absence Management, but if faculty are unable to complete this requirement for whatever reason, the Department Chair is responsible for, and authorized to, submit the leave usage on their behalf. The Dean, or their designee will serve as the final authority to approve all faculty absences and leave usage within their College/Unit. 

Faculty Eligible to Apply for Sabbatical or DIP Leaves
Use to determine faculty eligibility to apply for sabbatical or DIP leaves (apply during AY 2024/25, leave to be taken during AY 2025/26). 

Leaves without Pay (LWOP) and Partial LWOP

Full-time academic employees may be granted a leave without pay by the dean for a specific period of time, normally not exceeding two years. A part-time temporary academic employee may be granted a leave of absence without pay to maintain their rights and entitlements, under provisions 12.3, 12.7, 12.9, 12.10, 12.12, and 12.13 of the collective bargaining agreement.

Requests for leave without pay must specify whether the leave is for professional or personal reasons. Faculty members on leave of absence without pay shall notify the dean no later than April 1 of their intention to return at the beginning of the next academic year and no later than October 1 of their intention to return at the beginning of the Spring semester.

Please contact Academic Personnel Services to initiate the Leave Without Pay form.

A professional leave without pay may be granted if its purpose benefits the University, such as research, advanced study, or professional development. Such leaves shall be considered totally voluntary and for the purposes of workers compensation, the time involved will not be considered time worked. 

A faculty member on approved professional leave without pay will accrue service credit toward probation, sabbatical eligibility, difference in pay eligibility, service salary increase eligibility, and seniority. 

Service credit toward retirement is not accrued during periods of unpaid leave, but may be repurchased upon return from professional leave (For more information, please visit CalPERS under the "Active Members" view, then click on "Service Credit Purchase Options" under "Forms and Publications."). Leave applications should be submitted to the college dean via the department head/chair.

Please contact Academic Personnel Services to initiate the Leave Without Pay form.

A personal leave without pay may be for purposes of unpaid sick leave, outside employment, maternity/paternity leave, family care or other purposes of a personal nature. 

Faculty on personal leave without pay do not accrue service credit toward sabbatical eligibility, difference in pay eligibility, salary increase eligibility, or seniority unless otherwise specified in the collective bargaining agreement. Service credit toward retirement is not accrued during periods of unpaid leave. Under certain circumstances, probationary faculty on personal leaves without pay may request that their probationary period be extended. Requests should be submitted to the college dean via the department head/chair.

Please contact Academic Personnel Services to initiate the Leave Without Pay form.

Additional information regarding these types of leave can be found on the Human Resources Leave of Absence page. 

Leaves of Absence with Pay – Unit 3 CBA, Article 23

Full-time employees earn 8 hours of sick leave credits per month following completion of one month of continuous service and for each additional qualifying pay period thereafter, and are charged 8 hours of sick leave for each consecutive academic workday (any green day on the Green & Gold calendar) missed from the onset of the illness/injury until the day they resume their duties (or notify their dean or department head of their availability to resume work). 

When the semester is in session and there is not an academic holiday, all weekdays (Monday through Friday) are scheduled work days including days for which a faculty member is not scheduled to teach. 

Part-time employees accrue credit for sick leave on a pro-rata basis, and are charged pro-rata sick leave for each academic workday missed from the onset of the illness/injury until the day they resume their duties (or notify their dean or department head of their availability to resume work). 

Article 24.10 specifies the absences for which sick leave may be used. Per Article 24.7, appropriate medical verification of the need for sick leave is required for any absence in excess of three consecutive days, and such verification should be provided by the faculty member to the department chair and/or dean. In emergency situations and with appropriate approvals, up to 40 hours of accrued sick leave credit may be used for family care during any one calendar year (see Article 24.13 for additional information). There is no limit to the number of sick leave credits that can be accumulated.

Faculty classified as “academic year” employees are entitled to all days designated in the campus academic calendar as academic holidays or any other day designated by the Governor as a public fast or holiday. Academic holidays are not compensatory. Holidays are shown in gold on the Green & Gold Calendar, posted on the Payroll web page.

All academic employees are entitled to a one-day Personal Holiday each calendar year. If the Personal Holiday is not taken before the end of the calendar year, it is forfeited. Scheduling of the Personal Holiday must be agreed on by the employee and Dean.

Faculty employed on an academic year basis do not earn vacation credit. 

Full-time faculty employees with a 10- or 12-month work year (e.g. coaches, librarians, counselor interns) earn vacation at the rate of two days per qualifying month of service (part-time employees accrue vacation on a prorated basis). 

Vacation credit is cumulative to a maximum of 320 working hours (48 days) for 10 or less years of service or 440 working hours (55 days) for more than 10 years of such service. Accumulated vacation hours exceeding these maximum amounts as of January 1 of each year shall be forfeited. 

After one full year of employment, employees should take at least 40 hours of vacation each calendar year. Any part of the 40 hours not taken during the calendar year is forfeited on January 1 of the following year. Under certain conditions, the President may permit an academic employee to carry over more than the allowable credits.

Accrued vacation may be taken after completing one qualifying pay period. Except in an emergency and with prior written approval of their dean, employees are not to take vacation time off during any semester in which they are teaching.

Requests for scheduling vacation must be submitted in writing to the department head/chair at least thirty days in advance. Whenever possible, vacations shall be scheduled by mutual agreement of the faculty member and department head/chair. The scheduling of vacation may also arise from the needs of the institution. Although vacation credits are a right, the time vacations are taken must be convenient to the University and approved by the dean or equivalent administrator.