Family Medical Leave (FML) for Research Faculty (2013)

Research faculty may take up to 12 weeks (generally 480 hours) of FML during a 12 month period, contingent upon them being employed by the University for at least 12 months and have worked at least 1,250 hours during the most recent 12 month period. Part-time research faculty employees with an FTE of greater than 50% are presumed to have met the 1250 hours requirement, provided they have at least one year of university service. This presumption will be lost if the employee has taken FML and or any extended period of leave in the 12 months prior to requesting FML. The 12 work weeks are prorated for eligible part-time employees.

Specific forms must be completed by both the employee and the department for FML to be granted. You can download the required forms at  colorado.edu/hr.

*In compliance with the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act (GINA), please attach the following information to all applicable certifications, to be provided to health care providers, as follows:

If you are going to be on leave without pay for more than 30 days and are a member of PERA, please complete the following PERA required form: Certification of Leave of Absence.

Supervisors and department liaisons responsible for the tracking of Family Medical Leave may find the following spreadsheet useful for tracking leave taken related to an FMLA qualifying condition and monitoring an employee's remaining entitlement. This version is specific to Family Medical Leave for12-month Research Faculty: Non-Classified FMLA Tracking Form.

Leave Reporting Policy for Research Faculty (05/01/06)

  1. Regent policy requires all employees accruing vacation and sick leave to submit monthly leave usage reports to their supervisor and to the departmental Payroll/Personnel Liaison;
  2. Vice Chancellor for Research & Innovation policy also requires that there must be a written record of leave approval;
  3. In the event that an employee disregards these policies, a letter of expectations regarding leave policies will be issued to the employee. 
  4. Failure to follow the Leave Reporting Policy may render an employee being considered insubordinate and the university will not be obligated to payout unused leave at time of termination.
  5. Special Additional Note:  an official Employee Leave Record, printed and signed by both the employee and supervisor must be submitted at the time a leave payout at “time of separation” (resignation, retirement or termination). Failure to submit this paperwork will delay processing the payout request.

LWOP (Leave without Pay) Benefits Policy for Research Faculty (09/01/04)

The purpose of this policy is to provide for the benefits administration of research faculty on leave of absence without pay (LWOP). This policy is not intended to adversely affect employees who are on the following approved leaves whether paid or unpaid: Family Medical Leave, Disability Leave, Military Leave, or Parental Leave.

Background: According to University policy and practice, individuals placed on LWOP at a 50% or greater appointment may opt to continue with health benefits. If the employee elects to continue coverage, the university must continue to pay its share of the benefits. Even if the individual chooses to opt out of health benefits coverage, the university continues to pay the premium for long term disability and mandatory life insurance. This policy is thus intended to clarify the use of LWOP while ensuring the continuation of benefits for faculty waiting for the renewal and/or extension of research funding.

  • Policy: A research faculty member may be placed on LWOP at 50% or greater appointment for no longer than three consecutive months. An extension for no more than three consecutive months, at 0% appointment, may be granted upon written request to the head of the research unit and approved by the Vice Chancellor for Research & Innovation.
  • Special Note:  in exception to other personnel groups at the University of Colorado Boulder, research faculty are not required to exhaust their accrued vacation leave prior to requesting a leave without pay.

Issued by: Research & Innovation Office in accordance with the Office of the Provost, Boulder Campus

Fringe Benefits/Termination Pay Information (07/01/04)

The University of Colorado Boulder negotiated with the DHHS (Department of Health and Human Services) a revision to the fringe benefit rates to include termination vacation and sick leave pay for certain exempt professionals, research faculty, clinical faculty and classified staff who are paid from grant funds. The policy can be found under Termination Pay Program at Accounting and Business Support Web Site Search Index. This policy went into effect July 1, 2004. Vacation leave payouts for individuals who leave the university will now be charged against this "centralized fringe benefits pool"; and vacation leave accruals and 1/4th of accrued sick leave accruals will be paid from this fringe benefits pool, as well, when they retire from the University. You must use the following codes when entering the hours into PeopleSoft, in order for the termination leave accrual payouts to be charged against this new fringe benefits pool:                                                                                                                                                                                                        

  • VCT - vacation at separation   
  • SKS - sick leave at retirement payoff

NOTE: this fringe benefits pool will NOT be used when reporting monthly usage of sick leave and vacation leave usage. The new fringe benefits pool is to be used ONLY at the time of termination (accrued vacation leave payout) and/or retirement (accrued vacation and sick leave payout).

Administrative Leave:

Research faculty are ineligible to report/use administrative leave, per federal rules and regulations.

Parental Leave: 

This type of leave is not available to research faculty on the Boulder Campus. Research faculty are eligible for FMLA, contingent upon meeting the minimum eligibility requirements.

SWB (Short Work Break)

This type of leave is limited to no more than one month, typically during a period of time when there might be a shortfall in funding.