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

In Summary:

  • Full-time tenure-track and instructor-rank 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 9-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 plan ahead for classroom coverage. 
    • 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. Generally, however, the course is covered by other faculty members until the Chair is able to come to an agreement with the Dean regarding the alternate coverage and salary has been negotiated using the Leaves and Replacements database.
  • Normally when a faculty member is ill, a 100% sick leave is taken. It may be for one week, one semester, or longer. Partial sick leave equally distributed across teaching, research, and service may be granted at the Dean’s discretion. Family Medical Leave Act forms are required to be completed.
  • Once accrued sick leave has been exhausted, faculty enrolled in the Short-Term Disability program through 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. 
    • Long-Term Disability benefits (60% of salary, not to exceed $5,500 per month (less income from other sources) are payable either on the first of the month following 180 days of continuous disability, or after all sick leave is exhausted, whichever is later.
  • If a faculty member expects to need either Short-Term Disability or Long-Term Disability, they should contact Employee Services at 303-860-4200 as soon as possible.
  • Nine-month faculty, which includes tenure | tenure-track faculty and instructors, are not paid for any portion of unused sick leave remaining at retirement or at the time of resignation.
  • The Family Medical Leave Act runs concurrent to leave, which is an unpaid form of job protection. Therefore, employees requesting leave, must also complete Family Medical Leave forms. 
    • In addition to other eligible reasons which are not included here, Family Medical Leave may be taken by eligible employees for the following medical reasons: 
      • the birth and care of a newborn child
      • the placement and care of a child from adoption or foster care
      • care for a spouse, child, or parent with a serious health condition; and
      • the employee’s own serious health condition.
    • Officers and professional exempt staff, 9-month and 12-month faculty, and research faculty may receive up to 12 weeks (480 hours) of unpaid Family Medical Leave during a 12-month period, so long as they have been employed by the University for at least 12 months (employment for an academic year fulfills the 12-month requirement) and have worked at least 1,250 hours during the most recent 12-month period.
    • Eligibility is calculated based upon a rolling 12-month period that begins with the end date of the most recent Family Medical Leave approval and moves backwards over 12 months.

Procedures for Requesting Sick Leave

Faculty members applying for Sick Leave should do the following:

  • Contact the FMLA coordinators at fmla@colorado.edu to initiate the application process for Family Medical Leave Act coverage. The FMLA coordinators will guide the faculty member on all documentation required for FMLA coverage (if applicable). 
  • Contact CEAS HR for a calculation of sick leave accrual balance.
  • Upon official FMLA designation (if applicable) by the FMLA coordinators, faculty member should complete the formal Request for Leave form and send to their chair/director. 
    • Chair/Director reviews and approves the Request for Leave and forwards the request to unit HR Liaison and CEAS HR.  
  • CEAS HR reviews the request, completes the sick leave accrual balance section (if applicable), and submits to the Dean for signature via DocuSign.
  • Once the Dean signs the Request for Leave, the form is forwarded to the Office of Faculty Affairs for signature.  
  • Upon return, a copy of the final, approved request is submitted by CEAS HR to the unit HR Liaison, HR Service Center, FMLA team, and CEAS Director of Budget and Finance.  
    • Unit HR Liaison saves a copy to file, forwards a copy to the faculty member, and works with the HR Service Center.  
  • CEAS HR updates tracking sheets as applicable.