Sick Leave and Vacation Usage

Sick Leave and Vacation Usage

Description:
Weber State University (WSU) provides its salaried employees with a generous annual vacation
benefit, as well as sick leave for emergencies and times of illness. Sick leave and vacation are
valuable benefits for all of our employees. They are intended to be used prudently to enhance
quality of life, and to allow our lifestyles to be continued in times of stress, emergency, or to
rejuvenate ourselves. Unfortunately, sometimes these benefits can be abused. This procedure
will define how sick leave and vacation time will be accounted for in the Facilities Management
(FM) department.

References:
Weber State University PPM 3-21
Weber State University PPM 3-29

Responsible Parties:
Associate Vice President for Facilities and Campus Planning
Director of Facilities Business Services

Procedure:
University policy states that WSU, “reserves the right to require substantiation of absences for
which sick leave is requested. FM’s standard operating procedure is to have employees bring in
a note from their doctor after five consecutive days of unplanned or unscheduled sick leave. 
FM will not allow negative sick leave or vacation time for employees to accumulate. When an
employee does not have a sufficient balance of hours accrued for vacation time, and requires an
absence from work for personal reasons, the time absent in excess of the accrued leave balances
will be charged as leave without pay. Leave (both hours taken and leave categories) should be
recorded in AiM exactly as it was recorded in LeaveTracker. Three or fewer days of leave
without pay can be recorded directly in LeaveTracker; for instances of four or more days, contact
the Facilities Personnel Services Supervisor to have a Payroll Action Request created. Three or
more days of leave without pay can be grounds for disciplinary action, unless there are
extenuating circumstances, such as FMLA or ADA. Employees who are out sick for longer than
three days are encouraged to apply for FMLA.

In accordance with University policy, sick leave taken in excess of the amount accrued shall be
charged to vacation leave or comp time balances, if any is available. WSU policy is, “Sick leave
credit shall not be advanced to an employee except upon the approval of the appropriate vice
president.” In FM, when an employee does not have a sufficient balance of sick leave hours
accrued, and requires an absence due to illness and no leave time is available, the time absent in
excess of the accrued sick leave balance will be charged as leave without pay unless such
negative balance is approved in advance in writing by the University Vice President for
Administrative Services (requests must go through the Associate Vice President for Facilities
and Campus Planning first).

In the case of sick leave, other employees may donate vacation time to the affected employee,
with approval from the supervisors of both employees. Requests for leave donations should be
facilitated by the Facilities Personnel Services Supervisor. Vacation hours are converted to sick
leave hours upon approval of a transfer of this type. However, if the employee who donates
vacation time should require additional vacation time for his or her own purposes, the leave that
was donated is permanently lost and cannot be recovered. Only in extraordinary circumstances
will the department solicit leave donations on an employee’s behalf; the decision as to whether
the department will do so must be made by a quorum of members of Senior Staff.
WSU has other avenues available for employees in need of leave, such as the Voluntary Shared
Leave Pool and the Benevolence Fund. More information on these programs can be found at
www.weber.edu/HumanResources/forms.html