Eligibility and Availability
Administrative Staff
Administrative staff in regular or term positions working half-time or more (50% Working FTE) may use paid sick leave. Sick leave may be used in half or whole-day increments based on your normally scheduled hours for that day.
Eligible administrative staff will be paid their regular salary for time taken as sick leave for personal illness.
Occasionally employees need time away from work to care for family members, as defined below. Up to five consecutive days out under these circumstances will be paid. In the event a longer-term absence is required, the department head and Chief Human Resources Officer will need to discuss the matter.
Support Staff
Support staff in regular or term positions regularly scheduled to work half-time or more (50% Working FTE) earn paid sick leave.
The annual sick leave accrual amount is 12 days. Accrual is prorated for those working between half-time and full-time. For most, full-time is defined as 40 hrs per week for 12 months and equals 100% Working FTE (Full-Time Equivalent). Full-time in the library is based on 37.5 hours per week, and proration will be calculated based on this amount.
Sick leave is accrued on a per-pay-period basis – 1/26th of your annual amount is earned each pay period.
The maximum balance is 80 days, prorated for FTE. Once an individual’s accrual has reached the maximum balance, sick leave accrual will cease until their balance falls below the maximum. Staff can view their sick leave balance in the Human Resources System and on their pay statement.
Sick leave will not accrue when an employee is on medical leave, parental leave, family leave, workers’ compensation, or an extended unpaid leave of absence. Employees who work less than 12 months of the year will earn their annual sick accrual during the portion of the year when they are paid.
Non-Benefited Staff
This policy applies to the following groups of employees on Williams payroll:
- All Staff in regular or term positions who are NOT working at least half-time (50% Working FTE), including part-time one season Assistant Coaches.
- Temporary staff, including Winter Study Instructors and current students working outside of the academic year.
Sick leave is earned at a rate of one hour per 30 hours worked, including overtime, up to a maximum of 40 hours.
Sick leave is credited each payroll, and cannot be used before it is credited. Current available sick leave is reported on the employee’s pay statement.
Terms and Conditions of Sick Leave Use
Sick leave may be used to:
- care for the employee’s child, spouse, parent, or parent of a spouse, who is suffering from a physical or mental illness, injury, or medical condition that requires home care, professional medical diagnosis or care, or preventative medical care;
- care for the employee’s own physical or mental illness, injury, or medical condition that requires home care, professional medical diagnosis or care, or preventative medical care;
- attend the employee’s routine medical appointment or a routine medical appointment for the employee’s child, spouse, parent, or parent of spouse; or
- address the psychological, physical or legal effects of domestic violence as defined under the Domestic Violence Leave Rights policy. Earned sick time includes time necessary to travel to and from an appointment, a pharmacy, or other location related to the purpose for which the time was taken.
When using earned sick time, an employee shall make a good faith effort to provide notice of this need to their supervisor in advance of the use of the earned sick time. An employee shall comply with their department’s call-in procedures for the use of unforeseeable earned sick time, recognizing that there are certain situations, such as accidents or sudden illnesses, for which such requirements might be unreasonable or infeasible.
Sick time may be used as it is credited but cannot be used before it is earned. Sick leave can be used in as little as 15-minute increments.
An employee may not use earned sick time if the employee is not scheduled to be at work during the period of use. An employee may not accept a specific shift assignment with the intention of calling out for all or part of that shift.
Employees who receive different pay rates for hourly work will be paid the same hourly rate they would have been paid if they had worked.
Sick time does not count as work hours for the purpose of calculating overtime.
Sick leave is not paid out at time of separation or under any other circumstances.
If an employee is committing fraud or abuse by engaging in an activity that is not consistent with allowable purposes for leave (e.g. being sick, caring for an ill family member) or by exhibiting a clear pattern of taking leave on days when the employee is scheduled to perform duties perceived as undesirable, an employer may discipline the employee for misuse of sick leave.
Medical Certification
For absences longer than 7 consecutive calendar days, eligible employees have access to the Short-Term Disability Leave of Absence Policy. For absences longer than 3 consecutive work days, Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA) verification may be initiated for eligible employees.
Break in Service
If an employee returns after a break in service of less than one-year, an employee shall maintain the right to use any accrued earned sick time from prior service.
Interaction with State and Federal Leave Laws
Any sick leave taken will run concurrently with time off provided under other state and federal laws that allow eligible employees to take leave for the purposes listed above. Reference: Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), Massachusetts Parental Leave, Domestic Violence Leave Rights, and the Small Necessities Leave Act.