Information regarding sick leave can be found on the Office of Faculty Affairs website.  

Summary: 

  • Nine-month faculty accrue sick leave at the rate of 11 days for each academic year or 5.5 days for each semester. 
  • Accrual is pro-rated for appointments that are less than full-time. 
  • No sick leave is accrued while on periods of leave without pay. 
  • Sick leave is neither accrued nor available to be used during summer months for nine-month faculty. 
  • Sick leave is used when faculty are sick and unable to perform their usual duties; sick leave may not be used for purpose of "buying out" teaching or to take the place of teaching duties for any reason other than sickness. 
  • There is no specific policy covering periods of short illness; generally speaking, faculty cover for one another out of colleagueship. 
    • Whenever possible, faculty members should discuss and plan ahead for classroom coverage with department chair.  
    • There certainly are times when a faculty member suddenly falls ill and occasionally notes are posted on classroom doors that a course has been cancelled for the day due to illness; however, the course is covered by other faculty members until the chair is able to come to an agreement with the associate dean regarding the alternate coverage and salary has been negotiated using the teaching plan. 
  • Normally when a faculty member is ill, a 100% sick leave is taken. It may be for one week, one semester or longer. If a partial leave is designated by the Central HR leave team , your leave will be based off your merit formula. 
    • Work with your CAS Faculty Affairs Coordinator to determine your specific situation.
    • Once accrued sick leave and/or FAMLI has been exhausted, faculty enrolled in the Short-Term Disability program through CU insurance may go on Short-Term Disability.  
    • Faculty members are automatically enrolled into the University's Long-Term Disability plan after one year of benefit eligibility. 
    • Nine-month faculty, which includes tenure, tenure-track faculty and instructors, are not paid for any portion of unused sick leave accruals remaining at retirement or at the time of resignation. 
    • Faculty members who take a sick leave may be eligible for Family and Medical Leave Insurance (FAMLI).  
      • For information on FAMLI benefits, contact leave@cu.edu. 
    • Faculty requesting sick leave may be eligible for Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) coverage.
      • For information on FMLA benefits, contact leave@cu.edu. 
    • Eligibility for FMLA and/or FAMLI coverage is not required to be eligible for paid sick leave from the College. 

    If Sick Leave is Exhausted 

    • Colleagues new to CU may confront a serious illness of a family member, a dependent, or an illness themselves that make it impossible to fulfill all aspects of their contract. Faculty are encouraged to sign up for short-term disability during open enrollment to guard against this possibility.  
    • In some cases, when short-term disability insurance was not purchased or has been exhausted, and the faculty member does not qualify for or has exhausted family leave or FAMLI, the faculty member will deplete their sick leave and be without pay before the end of the semester.  
    • In cases where there is no short-term disability, and their sick leave is exhausted, and all FAMLI options have been applied to the fullest extent allowable, the College will help compensate the faculty member for the remaining work that is performed.  
      • For example, if the faculty cannot meet classes but can continue research and service, the College will adjust the contract to pay for research and service at 60% of the faculty’s base pay.  
      • In order to apply this policy, the faculty member must demonstrate that all prior options described above have been exhausted before making this request.  

    Nine-Month Faculty Sick Accruals 

    Nine-Month Faculty accrue sick leave at the rate of 5.5 days per semester or 11 days per academic year, prorated for the % of time of all active appointments for that period up to 1FTE.  

    This calculation will be based on the accruals for the part-time base appointment, and any additional jobs during the same term. 

    For example: 

    • Instructor A has a 50% appointment in Department A. Instructor A has also been assigned a 25% lecturer appointment in Department B. The total accruals for this period of time will be based on a 75% accrual as an instructor. 
    • Instructor B has a 75% appointment in Department B. Instructor B has also been assigned as a 50% lecturer in Department C. The accruals for this period of time will be based on a 100% accrual as an instructor. 

    Procedures for Requesting Sick Leave 

    • The faculty member contacts the Central HR Leave coordinators at leave@cu.edu to initiate the application for Family and Medical Leave Insurance (FAMLI) and/or Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA) coverage, if beneficial and eligible.  
      • The Central HR Leave coordinators will respond to your inquiry. 
        • The response will include CAS Faculty Affairs CC’d to kick off the Boulder campus’s sick leave process. 
          • Regardless of FAMLI and/or FMLA coverage, you must complete the Boulder campus leave documentation to be absent from the College and campus.  
          • Approval of a sick leave absence by the College and campus is not dependent upon FMLA or FAMLI coverage.  
      • The Central HR Leave coordinators will guide you on all documentation required for FMLA and/or FAMLI coverage (if applicable). 
        • Eligibility for FMLA and/or FAMLI coverage is not required to be eligible for the paid sick leave from the College and Boulder campus. 
      • CAS Faculty Affairs will provide your sick leave accruals to you and the Central HR Leave team. 
    • Once contacted by the Central HR Leave coordinator CAS Faculty Affairs will request the following information: 
      • Note: Faculty who are rostered in multiple units must submit individual leave requests for each unit. 
      • Note: If a tenure-track faculty member wishes to request a tenure clock stoppage, they should notify the CAS Faculty Affairs Coordinator at this time.  
      • Chair’s name and email address; 
        • If rostered to more than one department, information for both chairs is required 
      • Director’s name and email address (if rostered in an institute or museum); 
      • Dates of leave request (either an entire semester or specific dates during a semester); 
    • CAS Faculty Affairs reviews the submitted information and submits the Leave of Absence for Sick Leave form for completion on your behalf. 
      • This is the document that will authorize your absence from campus, and any applicable tenure clock changes (if requested). Once this document has been fully signed, your requested leave of absence has been approved.  
      • Please continue working with the Central HR Leave team to finalize your FMLA/FAMLI leave, if applicable.  
      • For Instructors who are appointed below 100%, the request will be submitted by CAS Faculty Affairs via the CAS internal DocuSign power form.  
      • Faculty on split appointments MUST submit a leave of absence request from all units they are rostered in.  
    • A copy of the final, approved request is submitted by the power form to the following: 
    • Unit(s), 
    • Boulder Campus Human Resources Service Center (HRSC) Coordinators, and  
    • College of Arts and Sciences Budget Office, if leave is unpaid or sick leave is fully/partially exhausted by the leave. 

     

    Reviewed 01/23/2024