Ohio Administrative Code › Title 3352 - Wright State University › Chapter 3352-5 - Personnel Policies › Section 3352-5-03 - Leaves of absence

Current through all regulations passed and filed through July 1, 2024
(A) Family and medical leave.
(1)
									In accordance with the federal Family and Medical Leave Act
			 (FMLA), it is the rule of the university to grant up to twelve weeks of unpaid,
			 job-protected leave to eligible employees per rolling twelve month period.
			 Military family leave entitles employees to a combined total of up to
			 twenty-six week of all types of FMLA leave per rolling twelve month
			 period.
(2)
									
			 Leave under the FMLA may be used for:
(a)
										
										To care
			 of the employee's child in the year after birth, adoption, or placement for
			 foster care.
(b) For
			 an
			 employee's own serious health condition that
			 
										renders
			 the employee unable to perform his/her usual duties.
(c)
										
										To care 
										for a parent, spouse, or child of the employee who has a
			 serious health condition;
(d)
										For "qualifying exigency leave," to handle active-duty
			 deployment-related activities of a family member; or
(e)
										To care for a
			 family member who was injured or became ill as a result of active duty military
			 service.
(3)
									Definitions
(a)
										FMLA: The Family and Medical Leave act provides up to
			 twelve weeks of job protected leave to eligible employees under certain
			 circumstances, and up to twenty-six weeks for military caregiver
			 leave.
(b)
										Family member: For the purposes of this rule, a family
			 member is defined as a parent, son, daughter, or spouse of the employee; "child
			 includes biological, adopted, step-child, foster or legal ward son or daughter
			 (up to age eighteen, except in the cases where the child is incapable of
			 self-care because of a mental or physical disability), or the person who stands
			 in for the parent ("in loco parentis," meaning the employee provides daily care
			 and financial support to the child).
(c)
										Paid leave: The
			 use of all accrued leave is required prior to going on unpaid status. Once sick
			 leave is exhausted, vacation and or compensatory time must be
			 used.
(d)
										Serious health condition: An injury, impairment or
			 physical or mental condition that involves either;
(i)
											Inpatient care
			 (i.e., an overnight stay) in a hospital, hospice, or residential mental care
			 facility, and any period of incapacity or treatment connected with the
			 inpatient care; or
(ii)
											A period of incapacity requiring absence of more than
			 three consecutive calendar days that also involves continuing treatment by (or
			 under the supervision of) a health care provider;
(iii)
											Any period of
			 incapacity due to pregnancy or prenatal care; or
(iv)
											Any period of
			 incapacity (or treatment therefore) due to a chronic serious health condition
			 (e.g. asthma, diabetes, epilepsy, etc.); or
(v)
											A period of
			 incapacity that is permanent or long-term due to a condition for which
			 treatment may not be effective (e.g. alzheimer's, stroke, terminal diseases.
			 etc.); or
(vi)
											Any absences to receive multiple treatments (including
			 any period of recovery therefrom) by, or on referral by, a health care provider
			 for non-chronic conditions that likely would result in incapacity for more than
			 three consecutive days in the absence of medical intervention or treatment,
			 such as cancer (chemotherapy, radiation, etc.), severe arthritis (physical
			 therapy), and kidney disease (dialysis).
Ordinarily, unless complications arise,
				the common cold, the flu, ear aches, upset stomach, etc, are examples of
				conditions that do not generally meet the definition of a serious health
				conditions.
(e)
										Unpaid disability
			 leave: A leave of absence where the employee has exhausted all sick time (and
			 vacation and or comp time if applicable) and there is still a need for
			 additional leave. Collective bargaining members should refer to their
			 respective contracts in regards to disability leave.
(f)
										Intermittent FMLA
			 leave: An absence taken in nonconsecutive blocks of time rather than one
			 continuous period.
(g)
										Reduced work schedule under FMLA: A reduction in the
			 usual number of working hours per day or week for a period of time for reasons
			 related to the approved FMLA.
(4)
									 Military family leave.
(a)
										Eligible employees are entitled to up to
			 twelve weeks of leave because of "any qualifying exigency" arising out of the
			 fact that the spouse, son, daughter, or parent of the employee is on active
			 duty, or has been notified of an impending call to active duty status, in
			 support of a contingency operation. Note that the employee's child need not be
			 under the age of eighteen or disabled for purposes of this type of leave.
An eligible employee who is the spouse, son daughter,
				parent, or next of kin of a covered service member who is recovering from a
				serious illness or injury sustained in the line of duty on active duty is
				entitled to up to twenty-six weeks of caregiver leave in a twelve month period
				to care for the service member. Again note that the employee's child need not
				be under the age of eighteen or disabled for purposes of this type of leave.
				Note also that the combined total of all types of FMLA leave may not exceed
				twenty-six weeks in a rolling twelve month period.
(c)
										
										The employee is
			 required to provide appropriate documentation that supports the need for FMLA
			 qualifying exigency or military caregiver leave.
(5)
									 Provisions of FMLA.
(a)
										
										Any university employee (excluding student employees)
			 who (i) has been employed by the university for at least twelve months total
			 and (ii) has worked for at least twelve hundred and fifty hours during the
			 twelve-month period immediately preceding the requested leave date is eligible
			 for FMLA-qualifying circumstances. When the employee and the employee's spouse
			 are both employed by the university, each employee is eligible for a
			 twelve-week leave period.
(b)
										
										The amount of FMLA leave for which the employee may be
			 approved cannot exceed that for which the employee would normally be scheduled
			 to work in a twelve-week period, e.g., the employee who is scheduled to work
			 thirty-two hours per week is eligible for leave up to three hundred eighty-four
			 hours (twelve weeks x thirty-two hours) of leave.
(c)
										
										The rolling twelve-month period during which the
			 employee may use up to twelve weeks of FMLA leave begins on the first day of
			 the leave and extends through twelve months. FMLA leave for the birth,
			 adoption, or placement for foster care of a child must be completed within
			 twelve months of the date of the birth, adoption, or placement.
(d)
										FMLA leave will
			 run concurrently with other types of leave such as, but not limited to, sick
			 leave, disability leave, workers' compensation leave and parental
			 leave.
(e)
										FMLA leave may be used on a continuous basis, an
			 intermittent basis, or as a reduced work schedule. A request with appropriate
			 medical documentation for an intermittent leave, i.e., in separate blocks of
			 time, or a reduced work schedule, i.e., a reduction in the number of hours
			 worked each week, when medically necessary for the serious health condition of
			 the employee or the employee's family member, will be approved. A request for
			 an intermittent leave or a reduced work schedule in the year following the
			 birth, adoption, or foster care placement of a child must be mutually agreed
			 upon by the university and the employee.
(f)
										Employees must
			 follow established call-in procedures and inform the supervisor or his/her
			 designee that they are using FMLA leave when calling in.
(g)
										FMLA runs
			 concurrently with the use of other paid leaves. FMLA may be unpaid leave unless
			 the employee has accrued sick leave and/or vacation hours and/or compensatory
			 hours which he/she is eligible to use for the purpose of the leave. Employee
			 are required to use all their accrued and available leave during an FMLA leave.
			 Sick leave may not be used under the FMLA for bonding with a newborn or for
			 adoption or foster care placement, or for military exigency leave. Such FMLA
			 leaves will be paid by vacation hours and/or compensatory hours or will remain
			 unpaid.
Upon expiration of FMLA leave, an
				employee who is still unable to return to work due to his/her own serious
				health condition may be eligible for further leave as a reasonable
				accommodation. Employees may contact the office of equity and
				inclusion.
(6)
									
									Continuation of benefits.
(a)
										
										During any period of unpaid FMLA leave, an employee who
			 has medical, dental, vision, supplemental life, and/or short term disability
			 coverages, and/or a flexible spending account, is eligible to continue these
			 coverages provided that the employee continues to pay the employee's share of
			 such coverages. Failure to pay the employee contribution amounts may result in
			 cancellation of such coverages or, should the university choose to make such
			 payments on the employee's behalf during any unpaid leave in order to keep
			 coverages in place, the employee's obligation is to repay such amounts upon
			 return to work.
(b)
										During
			 any period of unpaid FMLA leave, the university will not pay salary or wages,
			 holiday pay, winter leave, or university closure pay, or contribute toward
			 retirement benefits or health savings account, or provide for the accumulation
			 of sick lease or vacation leave.
(7) Application for
			 
									FMLA leave.
(a)
			 Approval of a request for 
										FMLA is made by the department of
			 human resources following submission of a family and medical leave request form
			 and relevant documentation
										. When a request for 
										FMLA leave is for a
			 serious health condition of the employee or another eligible family member
			 of the employee, the family and medical leave
			 request form must be accompanied by a completed certification
			 of health care provider form.
										 The employee is
			 required to provide thirty days of advance notice when a leave is
			 foreseeable, or as much notice as practicable when the
			 need for leave is not foreseeable thirty days in advance.
			 
										A
			 minimum of sixty days advance notice is requested for the birth of a child. The
			 employee has a thirty day window after the birth to add the child to their
			 health coverage (if applicable).
(b)
										
										The employee may also be required to provide a second
			 or third medical opinion (at the university's expense) to confirm the need for
			 a leave due to a serious health condition. Copies of the family and medical
			 leave release form, the certification of health care provider form, and a
			 summary of rights and responsibilities under the FMLA are available on the
			 department of human resources website.
(8)
									Return to work at
			 the end of an FMLA leave.
(a)
										When an employee is ready to return to work from an
			 approved FMLA leave taken due to the employee's own serious health condition,
			 the employee must provide the department of human resources with a satisfactory
			 fitness for duty medical certification completed by the employee's health care
			 provider prior to returning.
(b)
										Upon returning
			 from an FMLA-covered leave, the employee will be returned to his/her original
			 position or to an equivalent position with equivalent pay, benefits, and other
			 terms and conditions of employment (subject to certain exceptions permitted by
			 law).
(c)
										When an employee who has elected to not continue one or
			 more of his/her medical, dental, vision, supplemental life, or short term
			 disability coverages and/or a flexible spending account during his/her FMLA
			 leave returns to work after leave, those benefits will be restored to the level
			 of coverage available at the time the leave began. Any outstanding premiums may
			 be deducted from the employee's wages upon return to work.
(9)
									University resources.
(a)
										8410
			 vacation
https://policy.wright.edu/policy/8410-vacation
(b)
										8420 sick
			 leave
https://policy.wright.edu/policy/8420-sick-leave
(c)
										8430 leaves of
			 absence ( 8430.2 Unpaid Disability Leave
https://policy.wright.edu/policy/8430-leaves-absence
(d)
										Faculty and staff
			 assistance program:
http://wright.edu/human-resources/benefits/additional-miscellaneous-benefits/faculty-and-staff-assistance-program
(e)
										Office of equity
			 and inclusion:
http://www.wright.edu/administration/affirm/index.html