Leave Benefits

G7.02-7 Leave Benefits

7.1 Vacation leave

All full-time regular employees are eligible to receive paid vacation leave. Employees will accrue leave with a minimum of 80 hours paid time in a pay period.

Employees who terminate employment or retire from the university will accrue vacation in the month of termination/retirement provided that they have 80 hours of paid time for that pay period; no partial monthly accruals are allowed.

Employees who are off work due to a work-related injury or illness (i.e., one for which the employee has filed a workers' compensation claim) will not accrue any vacation leave if they do not have 80 hours paid time during each pay period that they are off work. Employees may supplement their workers' compensation payments (i.e., the temporary total disability [TTD] payments from the state of Missouri) by using their accrued vacation, sick leave, or compensatory time off during the pay period in order to meet the minimum 80 hours of paid time.

Employees accrue vacation monthly and may carry days forward from one month to the next. The maximum amount of vacation that can be carried forward from one fiscal year to the next cannot exceed two times the employee's annual allowance. For example, if an employee earns vacation at the rate of 8 hours each pay period, or 96 hours per year (12 days), the employee may carry forward up to a maximum of 192 hours (24 days). Any amount of leave over the maximum accumulation of two times the annual allowance is lost at the end of the fiscal year (June 30th) in which the maximum accumulation amount has been reached.

7.1.1 Accrual - nonexempt employees

For nonexempt employees on regular 12-month appointments, vacation leave accrues every pay period based upon the schedule shown in the following table. The leave is posted to the leave balance at the end of each month. The schedule shown in the following table also applies to employees who transfer from an exempt to a nonexempt position. Staff members with appointments of less than 12 months (e.g., nine-month positions, 10-month positions, .75 employee), will accrue vacation leave on a basis pro-rated to full-time, 12-month appointments.

Nonexempt employee vacation accrual summary

Years of Service	Monthly Accrual	Annual Accrual	Maximum
Less than 2 years	8.0 hours	96 hours (12 days)	192 hours (24 days)
At least 2 but less than 4 years	10.67 hours	128 hours (16 days)	256 hours (32 days)
4 or more years	13.34 hours	160 hours (20 days)	320 hours (40 days)

The effective date for the increase in the vacation accrual rate to the next higher rate will be the pay period in which the years of service milestone is reached and is posted to the leave balance at the end of the month. (Note: Employees who were accruing vacation leave in 1987 at a greater annual rate due to former policy provisions will remain at the annual rate in effect at that time.)

7.1.2 Accrual - exempt and professional nonexempt employees

The vacation leave accrual rate for exempt/professional nonexempt employees is established at the time of employment. Typically, exempt/professional nonexempt employees accrue vacation at the rate of 20 days annually. The department head, with approval from the appropriate vice president and the director of human resources, may establish the annual allowance at 15 days, with justifiable reasons. In such cases, the accrual rate for the exempt/professional nonexempt employee will increase to 20 days at the two year anniversary of the exempt/professional nonexempt employee's date of employment. The department head is responsible for notifying the office of human resources of the effective date of the increase in the accrual rate. The department head may, however, withhold the increase to the higher accrual rate, based upon objective considerations, if approved by his/her vice president and the director of human resources.

Exempt and professional nonexempt employee vacation accrual summary

Monthly Accrual	Annual Accrual	Maximum
1 day 2 hours	15 days	30 days
1 day 5 hours 20 minutes	20 days	40 days

The accrual rates shown above apply to employees on full-time, 12-month appointments. Staff members with appointments of less than 12 months (e.g., nine-month positions), will accrue vacation leave on a basis pro-rated to full-time, 12-month appointments.

7.1.3 Using vacation leave

Vacation may be taken only after time is accrued and recorded at the end of each month. It cannot be taken before it is accrued or in anticipation of it being recorded at the end of the month. Vacations may be taken as weekly periods, individual days, or in quarter-hour increments as long as the period chosen meets with departmental approval, and there is a sufficient leave balance available. An absence of less than 15 minutes will be counted as a quarter hour. Vacation leave will be granted at the convenience of the university. Due to work scheduling and workload, some departments will specify periods of time when no vacations will be approved or will specify the number of employees who may be on vacation at any given time. Some departments will request that leave be taken in defined increments of half days, whole days, or weeks. Employees must adhere to any departmental policies and/or restrictions regarding vacation scheduling. Employees should request leave from their supervisor at least two weeks prior to the date the vacation is to begin. In certain departments, requests for summer vacation may be required early in the spring so the complete summer vacation schedule can be established in advance.

7.1.4 Unused vacation leave

Employees terminating employment for any reason are entitled to payment for their accrued, unused hours of vacation, up to a maximum of two times their annual accrual.

7.2 Sick leave

All full-time regular employees are eligible to accrue paid sick leave. (Effective August 1, 2016, in addition to 12-month faculty, 9-month faculty (including clinical faculty) will also be considered “full-time employees” for purposes of eligibility to accrue paid sick leave, as further described in Section 7.5.) sick leave may be used for an illness, pregnancy, injury, or for medical/dental appointments. Employees whose normal work location is on the Springfield campus are not required to use sick leave when they have a medical appointment or seek medical treatment at one of the university's on-campus health care providers (e.g., the Magers Health and Wellness Center, the Physical Therapy clinic, the Speech-Language-Hearing clinic), including filling or re-filling a prescription at the Magers pharmacy. If the treatment or appointment at one of the university's on-campus health care providers results in a referral to another health care provider who is located off campus and the employee wants the time away from work for that subsequent appointment off campus to be paid, then sick leave can be used and the provisions of paragraph 7.2.2 apply.

Whenever employees seek medical treatment or have medical appointments off campus, the provisions of paragraph 7.2.2 apply. If the on-campus treating health care provider determines that the employee should not return to work but should be sent home, the employee may use sick leave for the time he/she is at home due to the medical illness or injury. Otherwise, the time away from work while at home will be unpaid unless it is a work-related injury or illness (see Section 6.5 of this handbook for information about Workers' Compensation benefits). The provisions of paragraph 7.2.2 apply regarding the use of sick leave under these circumstances.

Employees may also use sick leave due to an illness or injury of the employee's spouse, sponsored dependent, children, parents, mother-in-law, father-in-law, or other family members who require the employee's personal care and attention. Employees may use unpaid leave under the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) to care for a family member due to illness, injury, childbirth, or adoption (see Section 7.7 in this handbook for details about applying for Family and Medical Leave.) Sick leave may also be approved as provided in the policy provision for personal leave. Sick leave, whether for personal illness, family illness, or personal leave, shall be deducted from the employee's accumulated sick leave.

7.2.1 Accrual

Sick leave accrues at the rate of eight hours per pay period (one day); there is no limit on the number of sick leave days that may be accrued or carried forward. The accrual rate applies to full-time 12-month appointments. Staff members with appointments of less than 12 months (e.g., nine-month positions, 10-month positions, .75 employee) will accrue sick leave on a basis prorated to full-time, 12-month appointments (e.g., 72 hours per year (nine days) for nine-month appointments). Employees will accrue leave with a minimum of 80 hours paid time in a pay period. Employees who terminate employment or retire from the university will accrue sick leave in the month of termination/retirement provided that they have 80 hours of paid time for that pay period; no partial monthly accruals are allowed.

Employees who are off work due to a work-related injury or illness (i.e., one for which the employee has filed a workers' compensation claim) will not accrue any sick leave if they do not have 80 hours paid time during each pay period that they are off work. Employees may supplement their workers' compensation payments (i.e., the temporary total disability [TTD] payments from the State of Missouri) by using their accrued vacation, sick leave, or compensatory time off during the pay period in order to meet the minimum 80 hours of paid time.

7.2.2 Using sick leave

Sick leave may be taken only after time is accrued and recorded at the end of each month. It cannot be taken before it is accrued. Sick leave will be recorded in quarter-hour increments. An absence of less than 15 minutes will be counted as a quarter hour. Employees whose regular work week consists of four 10-hour days will need to record 10 hours of sick leave on their time sheet or leave report which will be deducted from their sick leave balance for each day of sick leave that they take.

Employees who are unable to report to work because they are ill must promptly notify their supervisor (See Section 9.2.1 of this handbook for the policy on employee absence). A supervisor may require an employee who has been absent from work due to illness or injury to provide a doctor's statement or other acceptable proof of illness or injury. Supervisors may require a doctor's statement that includes a release to return to work. Supervisors may also require proof of illness if employees have a poor attendance record or have exhibited a pattern of misusing sick leave.

7.2.2.1 Unused sick leave applied at retirement

Employees terminating employment for any reason other than qualified retirement are not paid for their unused sick leave. However, the Missouri State Employees' Retirement System (MOSERS) requires that the university report the number of unused sick hours that an employee had at the time the employee terminated employment with the university. If the employee is vested in MOSERS at the time of termination of employment, MOSERS will convert the reported unused sick leave hours into retirement service credit; 168 hours equals one month of service credit. When the employee applies for retirement at some future date when he/she is qualified to retire, MOSERS will include those months of service in the calculation of the retirement benefit amount.

The provisions of this section regarding treatment of sick leave by MOSERS are subject to modification in order to comply with MOSERS requirements. Employees who retire under one of the university's public retirement plans will be paid for 40 percent of any accrued unused sick leave rounded up or down to the nearest full day (up to a maximum of 384 hours (48 days), and the remaining unused sick leave will be reported to MOSERS for inclusion as creditable service in accordance with MOSERS' policies regarding the reporting of unused sick leave. A qualified retirement is one in which the employee is eligible for and receives a monthly retirement benefit from one of the university's retirement plans (Missouri State Employees' Retirement System).

Faculty with 9-month appointments who retire under MOSERS or CURP will not be paid for accrued but unused sick leave upon retirement. Rather, with respect to faculty members who retire under MOSERS, the entire balance of their accrued but unused sick leave will be reported to MOSERS for retirement service credit. Faculty members who choose to remain in and retire under CURP will not receive retirement service credit for accrued but unused sick leave.

7.3 Staff changes to full-time, regular faculty

Staff employees who are appointed to a full-time, 9-month faculty position no longer earn vacation. Vacation accrual ceases upon the effective date of appointment to their 9-month faculty position responsibilities. Employees who have accrued vacation days are encouraged to use such vacation prior to the start of the faculty position responsibilities. Any earned, unused vacation days not taken prior to the start of the faculty position responsibilities will be paid as a supplemental payment. Any unused sick leave days not taken prior to the start of the faculty position responsibilities will be retained and included in the ongoing sick leave accrual. Upon resignation or retirement, the unused sick leave days will be reported to MOSERS for inclusion as creditable service in accordance with MOSERS' policy regarding the reporting of unused sick leave.

7.4 Leave records

All full-time regular employees who are entitled to paid leave benefits must request leave from their supervisor in advance and record leave taken on their timesheet or leave report. Employees may gain access to their personal information on My Missouri State. The office of human resources maintains leave records for all employees.

7.5 Leave benefits for faculty (academic administrators, 12-month faculty and 9-month faculty)

7.5.1 Eligibility

All full-time 12-month administrative and professional employees who hold faculty rank are entitled to paid vacation and sick leave benefits described in this policy. The 12-month academic employees include executive/administrative, deans, academic department heads, and other administrative and professional employees. Leave benefits take effect at the time an employee is appointed to an eligible 12-month position. Generally, a 12-month academic appointment coincides with the fiscal year (July 1 to June 30).

Additionally, effective August 1, 2016, 9-month faculty (including 9-month clinical faculty) will be considered “full-time employees” who are eligible to accrue paid sick leave under this Section 7.5.

7.5.2 Vacation leave accrual and use

Full-time 12-month administrative and professional employees who hold faculty rank will accrue leave with a minimum of 80 hours paid time in a pay period. Vacation time will accrue at a rate of 13.34 hours per pay period or 160 hours per year (20 days). Such employees accrue vacation monthly and may carry days forward from one (1) month to the next. The maximum amount of vacation that can be carried forward from one fiscal year to the next cannot exceed two times the employee's annual allowance. For example, if an employee earns vacation at the rate of 13.34 hours each pay period, or 160 hours per year (20 days), the employee may carry forward up to a maximum of 320 hours (40 days). Any amount of leave over the maximum accumulation of two times the annual allowance is lost at the end of the fiscal year (June 30) in which the maximum accumulation amount has been reached.

Nine-month faculty (including 9-month clinical faculty) do not accrue vacation time under this Section 7.5.

7.5.3 Sick leave accrual and use

Refer to the applicable faculty handbook sections regarding sick leave accrual and use.

7.5.4 Earned and unearned sick leave

Historically, the university has referred to sick leave as either “earned” or “unearned.”

Earned sick leave is referred to simply as sick leave and is defined as follows:

An allotment of days (at the rate of one day per month) that was given to all academic administrators/professionals who were serving in their positions on July 1, 1992 based upon the appropriate amount of sick leave they would have accumulated prior to implementation of the sick leave system for academic administrators/professionals on that date. The allotment of sick leave for service prior to July 1, 1992 was capped at 120 days and was previously referred to as “back-up” sick leave and/or
The accrual of days (at the rate of one day per month) after July 1, 1992, while serving in an academic administrator/professional position.

Unearned sick leave is a historical concept defined as follows:

Prior to August 1, 2016, academic administrators and faculty with 12-month appointments were extended an initial allotment of sick leave upon assuming their duties as academic administrators or professionals; this allotment was called ‘unearned’ sick leave. Specifically, prior to August 1, 2016, academic administrators and faculty with 12-month appointments were given an allotment of sick leave days based upon the faculty member’s months of service at the university (exclusive of any months of service as an academic administrator/professional), which allotment was granted at the rate of one (1) day of sick leave for each month of service, capped at a maximum of 120 days.

7.5.5 Changes in employment status

7.5.5.1 Retirement

A qualifying retirement is one in which the faculty member (whether an academic administrator, 12-month faculty, or 9-month faculty), at the time he/she leaves the university, is eligible for and receives a monthly retirement benefit in the university's retirement plans: Missouri State Employees' Retirement System (MOSERS) or College and University Retirement Plan (CURP). Academic administrators and professionals who retire from the university while serving in a 12-month position are entitled to payment for all accrued, unused vacation time. They will also be paid for forty percent up to a maximum of 384 hours (48 days) of their accumulated earned, unused sick leave. Such employees retiring under the MOSERS plan will have the remaining earned, unused sick leave reported to MOSERS for inclusion as creditable service in accordance with MOSERS’ policies. However, the remaining earned, unused sick leave days will not be reported to the CURP retirement plan for service credit because CURP does not recognize service credit as a component of its retirement benefit calculation. Calculation of the unused sick leave upon which the forty percent payment is based will not include the days allotted as unearned sick leave.

Faculty are reminded that, after six (6) years of employment with the university, they are eligible to change from CURP to MOSERS, which move may be beneficial to some faculty. For more information and/or to discuss how this move could affect your individual investment strategy, please contact the university’s office of human resources at 417-836-6616 or MOSERS at 800-827-1063.

7.5.5.2 Transfer/return to a nine-month faculty position

When an academic administrator or 12-month academic professional transfers from a 12-month position to a nine-month faculty position, he/she is no longer entitled to paid vacation under this policy. Upon assuming the responsibilities of the 9-month faculty position, in addition to any benefits for which the individual is entitled under the Employee Handbook, faculty leave benefits as described in the Faculty Handbook will apply. The employee is expected to use all accumulated vacation leave before the nine-month faculty appointment begins. Any earned, unused vacation days not taken prior to the start of the nine-month faculty position responsibilities will be paid.

Academic administrators and 12-month academic professionals transferring from their 12-month position to a 9-month faculty position are not entitled to receive payment for any unused sick time; however, they will retain their earned, unused sick days while serving as faculty. If an academic administrator or professional, who has transferred from a 12-month position to a 9-month faculty position, subsequently retires from the university, he/she will not be paid for the forty percent of his/her earned sick leave days. However, he/she may be eligible for retirement service credit consistent with Section 7.2.2.1, above.

7.5.5.3 Resignation

Academic administrators and 12-month academic professionals who terminate their employment with the university while serving in a 12-month position are entitled to payment for all unused vacation time, but are not entitled to payment for forty percent of the earned, unused sick leave. For MOSERS participants the university will report the number of earned, unused sick leave days the person accrued while serving in the 12-month position in accordance with MOSERS' policy regarding the reporting of unused sick leave. For CURP participants the university will not report the number of unused sick leave days earned because CURP does not recognize service credit as a component of its retirement benefit calculation.

7.6 Personal leave

Full-time, regular employees may use up to three (3) days of accrued sick leave each fiscal year as personal leave. Personal leave may be granted for any reason deemed important to the employee. Examples of occasions for which employees may want to use a day of sick leave as a day of personal leave might include:

Community service
Legal business
Household repairs
Personal or family birthday, anniversary, graduation
Other personal business or significant event.

Personal leave will not be granted for an absence due to inclement weather conditions when the university needs all employees possible to report to work.

Personal leave may be taken in quarter-hour increments.

If an employee decides to use a day of sick leave as a day of personal leave, the day will be deducted from his/her accrued sick leave balance. Personal leave does not accumulate from one fiscal year to the next. Only three (3) days of sick leave can be used as personal leave in any fiscal year. If an employee does not use personal leave, the sick leave will remain as accrued sick leave.

7.6.1 Guidelines and procedures

Personal leave will be approved by the department unless the absence would cause a severe work scheduling problem or an unreasonable hardship on the other workers in the department. Requests for personal leave must be submitted to the employee's supervisor. The request must be submitted at least three working days before the anticipated personal leave. Exceptions to this three-day advance notice will be allowed when the absence is of a true emergency nature due to illness in the immediate family or other urgent personal business. An explanation of the emergency nature of the leave must be satisfactory to the supervisor if an exception to the three-day advance notice requirement is to be approved.

7.7 Family and medical leave

Missouri State University provides Family and Medical Leave (FML) in accordance with the federal Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) of 1993 and subsequent amendments. FMLA provides eligible employees who work for covered employers the right to take unpaid, job-protected leave for absences due to a qualifying event. This policy outlines information also obtained in the Department of Labor poster. The terms referenced in this policy are defined as outlined in Department of Labor regulations and any inconsistencies between this policy and the regulations are resolved in favor of the regulations (29 CFR Part 825).

Employee eligibility

Eligible employees who have a qualifying event and provide appropriate notice and requested certification(s) are entitled to a total of 12 weeks of unpaid, job-protected leave and health insurance continuation during a rolling 12-month period, except military caregiver leave which can be up to 26 weeks. The minimum requirements for an employee to be eligible for FML:

worked for the university for at least 12 months;
worked at least 1,250 hours in the 12 months prior to when the leave will commence;
has not used all available FML in the 12 months prior to when the leave will commence; and
has a qualifying event.

Qualifying event

A qualifying event under FMLA includes:

Birth and care of the employee’s newborn child;
Placement of a child with the employee for adoption, or by the State for foster care;
To care for the employee’s spouse, sponsored dependent, child or parent with a serious health condition (this does not include in-laws);
The employee’s own serious health condition that prevents him or her from performing the employee’s job;
“Any qualifying exigency” for an employee’s spouse, sponsored dependent, child, or parent on active military duty or being called to active military duty; or
To care for a spouse, sponsored dependent, child, parent, or next-of-kin who is a member of the Armed Forces and who is undergoing medical treatment, recuperation, or therapy, for a serious injury or illness suffered in the line of duty on active duty.

Amount and timing of leave

Eligible employees may take up to 12 weeks of FML during a rolling 12-month period for the first five qualifying events above. Only military caregiver leave, the 6^th qualifying event above, provides an entitlement to 26 weeks. The 12-month period is defined as the 12 months prior to when the leave will commence. Eligible employees may take leave in the following manner:

Family leave for the birth or adoption of a child must be taken within 12 months of the birth or adoption of the child.
Leave for birth or adoption shall normally be limited to one consecutive leave period; it may not be taken on an intermittent or reduced time basis, (e.g., every other day or a couple of hours every day). However, if the employee is approved by a health care provider and their supervisor to work on an intermittent basis during the 12-week period, the employee must submit a “fitness for duty” certification from the health care provider, verifying the employee’s ability to return to work, with or without restrictions. The employee cannot work from home unless approved under the Telecommuting policy (4.11))
As consecutive weeks or on an intermittent basis when medically necessary, or for qualifying exigencies. Employees must attempt to schedule intermittent leave to minimize disruption of normal operations

Employee request and notice

The Family and Medical Leave Act not only mandates certain protections and benefits for employees who apply for it, but also specifies that it is the employer's responsibility to determine when an employee's absence should be considered as protected leave under this law. The university has the legal authority to consider an employee's absence as family and medical leave when it has sufficient evidence that the absence is due to an FMLA-qualifying reason, or the circumstances of the absence are such that the university should reasonably suspect that the absence is for an FMLA purpose, even if the employee has not applied for family and medical leave. Consistent with federal law and regulations, if an employee is absent for more than three (3) working days and the university has sufficient evidence that the absence is due to an FMLA-qualifying reason, the university may place the employee on leave pursuant to the FMLA. The office of human resources will notify the employee in writing and the necessary paperwork provided to the employee for completion.

An employee requesting leave under the FMLA provision must contact the office of human resources, who will inform the employee about the procedure and the need to submit complete and sufficient supporting medical and/or military documentation. The university requires medical certification to support a request for Family and Medical Leave, the employee will have 15 calendar days from the date he/she receives the FMLA packet from the office of human resources to provide the university with such certification. Failure to provide the medical certification may result in a delay or denial of the requested leave. The office of human resources has final approval of all family leave requests.

When leave is foreseeable, an employee must give the university 30 days advance notice. In addition, when foreseeable leave is for planned medical treatment, the employee must make a reasonable effort to schedule the treatment so as not to unduly disrupt the university's operations. If it is not possible to provide 30 days notice, as much notice as is practical must be provided.

An employee on leave is required to report any change in his/her status, duration of leave, or intent to return to office of human resources. During the leave, the university may require periodic recertification supporting the need for leave.

Pay and benefits during leave

The office of human resources will promptly inform the employee of the status of pay and benefits. FML is unpaid; however, the employee is required to use their accrued paid leave (vacation, sick leave or compensatory time) concurrently with FML during the absence. An employee must follow the same terms and conditions of the leave policies that apply to other employees for use of paid leave.

If an employee does not have accrued paid leave available, the FML will be unpaid. While on an unpaid FML, employees will not accrue sick or vacation time during a month in which they have not been paid for 80 or more hours. Additionally, employees on FML may not be paid for a holiday(s) that occurs during the period that they are on family and medical leave.

While on leave, in order to be paid for the holiday(s), an employee must use accrued time the day before the holiday occurs. For purposes of determining the amount of leave used by an employee, the fact that a holiday may occur within the week taken as FMLA leave has no effect; the week is counted as a week of FMLA leave. However, if an employee is using FMLA leave in increments of less than one week, the holiday will not count against the employee's FMLA entitlement unless the employee was otherwise scheduled and expected to work during the holiday. Similarly, if for some reason the university’s business activity has temporarily ceased and employees generally are not expected to report for work for one or more weeks (e.g., Christmas break), the days the employer's activities have ceased do not count against the employee's FMLA leave entitlement.

Continuation of benefits during family and medical leave: For the duration of the approved family and medical leave, the university will maintain the employee’s benefits at the same level and under the same conditions as if the employee had continued work. The employee is required to continue to pay his/her contribution to dependent insurance or other elective benefit costs. If on paid leave, premiums will be deducted from pay as usual. If some or all of the leave will be without pay, information on how and when to make premium payments will be provided to the employee. If necessary, employees will be allowed to discontinue coverage and be reinstated to the plan, if they return to work on or before expiration of the family and medical leave.

If the employee does not return to work with the university, or returns for less than a period of 30 days after the leave has ended, the employee will owe the university the cost of any benefits provided during the entire duration of the family and medical leave, including the employer contribution to the employee’s health benefits. No such amount shall be owed if there is a reoccurrence or onset of a serious health condition, or if, in the opinion of the university, there is a change of circumstances beyond the employee’s control.

Return to work

Employees should notify the office of human resources of their intent to return to work two weeks prior to the anticipated date of return, or of any medically necessary changes in the date of return. If the leave was due to a serious health condition as defined by the FMLA, the university will require a “fitness for duty” certification from the health care provider, verifying the employee’s ability to return to work, with or without restrictions. Employees may also be required to submit to a medical examination before returning to work. If employees return to work on or before the expiration of available FML, they will normally be returned to their former position or an equivalent job. If, however, they do not return at the expiration of FML, there is no guarantee of reinstatement.

7.9 Bereavement leave

Full-time employees may be excused from work, with pay, in relation to the death of a spouse/domestic partner, children/step-children/son-in-law/daughter-in-law/children of domestic partner, mother/step-mother/mother-in-law/mother of domestic partner, father/step-father/father-in-law/father of domestic partner, brother/step-brother/brother-in-law/brother of domestic partner, sister/step-sister/sister-in-law/sister of domestic partner, grandchildren/step-grandchildren, grandparents/great-grandparents/step-grandparents, and step-great grandparents/grandparents of domestic partner, an adult who stood 'in loco parentis' during childhood, or any other individual with whom the employee had a close relationship. The employee's supervisor may grant bereavement leave for up to five (5) workdays for each death involving a family member or other individual listed in this policy. Time not worked because of bereavement leave will be paid at the full-time employee's regular, straight time, hourly rate.

7.10 Military leave

The university supports employees who serve in the National Guard and Reserves. Employees may take military leave for annual training or emergency mobilization orders from the armed forces.

Employees are allowed military leave without loss of pay, position, seniority, or benefits to fulfill military duties. This paid leave is limited to 120 hours per Federal fiscal year (Oct- Sept), counting only hours when the employee would normally work. During emergencies, employees can be on unpaid leave for the duration of mobilization. An employee may choose to use accumulated vacation leave before going on leave of absence without pay. Official military orders are needed for paid or unpaid leave. A personnel action form (PAF) with appropriate documentation should be submitted by the department for: (1) paid military leave, (2) leave without pay, (3) return from paid or unpaid military leave. Reservists or members of the National Guard called to active duty will have rehire and other benefits as prescribed by federal law in Uniformed Service Employment and Reemployment Rights Act of 1994 (USERRA). See Section 6.6 of this handbook for insurance information.

7.11 Court leave/jury duty

A full-time employee will be granted leave with pay if selected for jury duty or subpoenaed to serve as a witness in a court of law. Any compensation received for service as a juror or as a witness (except the payment of mileage) must be turned in to the university if paid court leave is requested. The employee must provide a copy of the summons or subpoena and the compensation received from the court to the office of human resources. In addition, the employee must record the leave on their timesheet or leave report. Court compensation can be retained by the employee if the employee chooses to take leave without pay. Paid court leave is not available to an employee when the employee is the named plaintiff or defendant.

7.12 Voting leave

If a full-time employee is eligible to vote in any local, state, or national election in the state of Missouri, the employee will normally be able to vote before or after work. If an employee does not have three successive hours between the opening and closing of the polls on election day when he/she is not scheduled to work, the employee will be excused from work with pay for up to three consecutive hours between the time of opening and the time of closing the polls for the purpose of voting. If the employee plans to take time off for voting, arrangements must be made with the supervisor prior to election day, and the university may specify any three hours between the time of opening and closing of the polls during which the employee may be absent to vote.

7.13 Leave without pay

Employees and supervisors must contact Human Resources Benefits office regarding Leave Without Pay. An employee may be granted leave without pay for a period that may not exceed six weeks (240 hours) in any 12-month period. When leave without pay has been approved by proper authority, and such leave is expected to last more than 10 consecutive days, a personnel action form (PAF) must be completed. Leave without pay may be granted under the following conditions:

When such leave is for prolonged employee illness or injury extending beyond accumulated vacation, sick leave or compensatory time. Following any Family Medical leave (FML) as appropriate, total unpaid time shall not exceed six weeks (240 hours) in any 12-month period. As part of reasonable accommodation review and with approval, leave without pay may be granted on an intermittent basis.
When an employee will attend a college, university or school for the purpose of training in subjects relating to a job that shall benefit both the employee and the university; requires PAF and cost center approval.
Because of seasonal fluctuations in the work schedules at the university and the employee is requisitioned into such a position based on this fluctuation (i.e. 9 or 10 month staff employees); does not require PAF.
Under special circumstances, an employee may be granted leave without pay for a specific purpose other than those listed above with the approval of the appropriate cost center administrator when such leave extends beyond accumulated vacation, sick leave or compensatory time off available to be used.
As defined under Military Leave in section 7.10 of the employee handbook.

Leave without pay is not intended to be granted when the employee has paid vacation, sick leave, or compensatory time off available; except as stated under the Military Leave policy.

Employees on approved leave without pay, who do not have at least 80 hours of paid time during the pay period, will not earn sick or vacation leave. Nor will an employee be paid for a holiday that occurs during the period of leave without pay.

If an employee does not have sufficient pay to cover benefit deductions:

The insurance coverage will not be paid by the University. An employee who desires to maintain insurance coverage during a leave without pay, must make arrangements with the office of human resources at least 60 days prior to the leave. Premiums must be paid one month in advance of the month of insurance coverage. The employee will be responsible to pre-pay the employee portion of premiums and employer portions of premiums.
An employee with Family Medical leave protections will be responsible for only employee portions of premiums. Benefits are protected until such time as Family Medical leave is exhausted. While under Family Medical Leave the University will continue employer sponsored benefits and contributions.

Nine- and Ten-month staff employees will have coverage continued; provided the employee is scheduled and expected to return to work following the summer. The employee will be responsible to pre-pay employee portion of premiums and employer portions of premiums will be paid by the university during the summer months.

7.14 Severe weather

Refer to Section 2.15 on severe weather for information pertaining to absence during inclement weather.

7.15 University closings

Refer to Section 2.15 for information pertaining to absences when the university is officially closed.

7.16 On-the-job injuries/workers' compensation

Refer to Section 6.5 of this handbook for information pertaining to absence due to on-the-job injuries covered by workers' compensation insurance.

7.17 Holidays and extra given days

The university observes several paid holidays throughout the year during which all employees, except those engaged in continuous operations, will be excused from work. Nine (9) holidays always observed include the following days:

New Year's Day
Martin Luther King Jr. Day
Memorial Day
Juneteenth National Independence Day
Independence Day
Labor Day
Thanksgiving Day
The Day After Thanksgiving
Christmas Day

Each year, additional days off may be designated by the university president. These days are referred to as “extra given days”.

To be paid for a recognized holiday/extra given day the employee must be (1) Full-time (2) scheduled to work the week of the holiday/extra given day and (3) work or utilize approved paid leave (e.g., vacation, sick, or compensatory time) on the employee’s last scheduled day prior to the holiday/extra given day. A .75 employee shall receive prorated pay. Part-time employees do not receive pay.

Employees not scheduled to work during the week in which a holiday or extra given day occurs (for example, nine or 10-month employees or employees on leave without pay) will not be paid for the holiday or extra given day.
Certain university housing will close during university scheduled holiday breaks during the winter and spring. Nine or 10-month employees who would otherwise be scheduled to work if not for the housing closure, will be paid for observed holidays.

Supervisors should make sure payroll is aware of University housing closed dates and verify employees affected by closure.

Employees utilizing unpaid Family and Medical Leave or a leave without pay on the day prior to the recognized university holiday/extra given day may not be paid for that holiday/extra given day.
Employees who are off work due to a work-related injury or illness (i.e., one for which the employee has filed a workers' compensation claim) will not be paid for the holiday, except those employees who supplement their workers' compensation payments (i.e., the temporary total disability [TTD] payments from the State of Missouri) with accrued vacation, sick leave, or compensatory time.
Employees whose regular work week consists of four 10-hour days will receive eight hours of holiday pay for all recognized university holidays/extra given days. Employees may use vacation, compensatory time, or work additional hours during the week in which the recognized university holiday/extra given day occurs to be paid for the remaining two hours.

Nonexempt employees who are eligible to receive overtime compensation will be paid additional compensation if required to work on a holiday. The rate of compensation will be one and one-half times the regular straight-time rate for the hours worked on any of the nine holidays listed above, or one times the regular straight-time rate for the hours worked on any "extra given day." This overtime compensation is in addition to the regular day's pay. The nine holidays listed above will be counted as "hours worked" toward 40 hours for the purpose of payment of overtime.

This policy does not apply to employees who are terminating employment or retiring: see Section 3.20.2 of this handbook.

7.19 Shared leave

7.19.1 Purpose

To allow employees to participate in the public affairs mission by helping protect co-workers with a qualifying leave against salary interruption. Employee donations of vacation leave provide income to an affected employee who would otherwise be on unpaid leave. Benefits are subject to all eligibility requirements and committee approval and limited in scope. This program will be subject to periodic review.

7.19.2 Scope

This policy applies to full-time benefit eligible employees in a leave-earning position. Policy does not apply to faculty eligible for extended sick leave pursuant to Section 6.6.6 of the Faculty Handbook and/or Section 7.20 of the employee handbook.

7.19.3 Policy

Eligible employees may voluntarily donate accumulated vacation as defined by the Employee Handbook to a Shared Leave Pool (SLP) to aid eligible employees who are unable to work due to a qualifying event. Donations shall not be made directly from one employee to another, but shall be made to the university pool established for this purpose.

The donation of vacation leave is strictly voluntary. No employee may intimidate, threaten, or coerce any other employee with respect to donating or receiving leave under this program. Individual vacation leave records that apply to Shared Leave are confidential and no individual employees shall receive remuneration of any kind for vacation leave donated. Shared leave is for employee’s health condition only, except as outlined in 7.19.7 Qualifying Events.

7.19.4 Eligibility

Receiving shared leave
1. EEmployee must have successfully completed their probationary period and have 625 hours of service in the previous 6 months at Missouri State University and be in a leave-earning position to apply for SLP benefits.
2. Employee must have donated at least 8 hours of earned vacation leave to the bank prior to requesting leave from the pool in order to receive donations from the SLP.
3. Employee must have experienced a qualifying event (see 7.19.7 Qualifying Events).
4. Employee must have exhausted all accrued vacation, sick leave and compensatory time, except in the case of parental leave and bone marrow/organ donation.
5. Employee may request shared leave more than once, however: Employee must normally return to work for six (6) continuous months following the last day of use of the donated time, if the maximum amount of approved SLP benefits were used; Family and Medical Leave eligibility will be determined before becoming eligible to apply for additional benefits from the pool. Additional benefits for a reoccurrence of a previously approved qualifying event are not allowed when the maximum benefits have been paid.
6. Employees who are on a work-related injury and concurrent FMLA leave can supplement shared leave after their work compensation adjustments and accrued leave are used.
Donating shared leave
1. Vacation leave may be donated upon accrual.
2. Employee contribution may not exceed 48 hours, unless the office of human resources has communicated a need for additional days. In that case, employee(s) may contribute additional day(s) up to the limit requested at that time.
3. Time must be donated in whole hours with a minimum donation of 1 hour.
4. Donated hours cannot be rescinded once they are donated.
Bone marrow and organ donation
1. An employee must be employed at Missouri State University for a minimum of ninety (90) days before applying for time from the SLP for bone marrow or organ donation. A leave accruing employee may apply for time from the shared leave pool for bone marrow or organ donation without a qualifying donation of vacation time to the shared leave pool and without first exhausting all accrued sick and vacation time. The employee must provide the SLP committee with written verification from health care facility that he or she is serving as a bone marrow or organ donor. The employee may be granted a maximum of forty (40) hours from the SLP for bone marrow donation and a maximum of two-hundred forty (240) hours from the SLP for organ donation.
Parental Leave
1. Eligible employees are entitled to 80 hours of paid parental leave following the birth, foster care placement, or adoption of a child within the home, utilizing funds from the shared leave pool.
  1. If both parents are otherwise eligible for parental leave, both parents may each make individual request for parental leave.
2. Leave must be consecutive within the first 12 weeks following the birth, foster care placement, or adoption of a child within the home.
  1. Parental leave requests are limited to 80 hours on a 12-month rolling basis.
3. Vacation, sick, and compensatory time need not be exhausted before utilization of parental leave. Utilization of parental leave does not prevent further use of the shared leave pool for other qualified events.

7.19.5 Shared leave (SL) committee

The SL Committee shall be comprised of seven (7) members: two (2) administrators, one (1) office of human resources representative, one (1) West Plains Staff Senate member and three (3) Springfield Staff Senate members. The director of human resources or their designee, the payroll manager, and a Legal Affairs and Compliance designee will act as ex officio members of the committee. The committee will be categorized as a University Committee.
Committee appointment will be determined as follows:
1. Staff Senate members will be appointed by the Staff Senate
2. Human resources representative will be appointed by the Vice President for Administration and Finance
3. Two (2) administrators will be appointed by the university president
The committee will elect a new chair and vice chair from the committee each year at the first meeting in July. Terms will run July – June.
Members of the shared leave committee shall serve a two-year term with the exception of one (1) at Staff Senate member, which will serve a one-year term. The other Staff Senate members will serve a two-year term. Thereafter, the one-year Staff Senate appointee will serve a two-year term, which will allow the Staff Senate membership to be replaced on alternate years. In the event that the appointed Staff Senate member’s term on Staff Senate ends before the term on the shared leave committee, a new appointee will be appointed by their respective body.
The committee must sign a HIPAA Compliant Confidentiality Agreement promising to maintain all information on a confidential basis. Any breach of confidentiality will result in the committee member being excused and a replacement member being appointed. In addition, disciplinary action, up to and including termination of an employee may be taken as a result of any breach of confidentiality.
1. Examples of a breach of confidentiality include, but are not limited to:
  1. Speaking of applicant’s name and/or health condition outside of committee
  2. Speaking of applicant’s number of hours requested outside of committee
  3. Speaking of the committee’s decision and reasoning for granting or not granting benefits from the leave pool outside of committee.
The SL committee will determine whether the employee request falls under the guidelines for a qualifying event.
The committee will review all applications for the SLP and shall follow the criteria set out in this policy to approve or disapprove the request for SLP benefits. The committee’s decision is final.
The committee will convene as needed to review applications and approve or disapprove a SLP request. A minimum of four (4) committee members must be present to constitute a quorum. Name of applicant will remain anonymous.
In the event that the SLP falls below $25,000.00, no more shared leave will be authorized until more hours are available. Lowered leave levels may determine leave distributions. If insufficient balances are experienced, the office of human resources may send a communication to eligible employees indicating such a need but may not under any circumstances coerce an employee(s) to contribute leave time.

7.19.6 Procedures

General
1. The maximum amount of SLP benefits accessible to a recipient cannot exceed one-third of the balance of the pool, or 480 hours leave time per case, whichever is less. The leave granted will run concurrent with FMLA as appropriate. SLP benefits may be prorated for employees who have worked less than 1 year of service and actual hours approved are based on specific case details and need as determined by the committee.
2. When an employee receives medical clearance to resume full-time work, they must promptly return. Any previously approved SLP hours become null upon receiving clearance and any remaining approved unused balance reverts back to the Shared Leave Pool.
3. Full-time employees receiving a medical release for return to work on a part-time basis (i.e., fewer hours per day per week than the regular work schedule), may continue to use SLP Committee approved donated leave for the balance of the regular work schedule until medically released for full duty or until approved SLP hours are exhausted.
4. If intermittent leave is required, approved SLP benefits may be provided on an as-needed basis until the employee has been approved by their attending physician to return to work full-time. Leave can be taken intermittently.
5. It is not possible to make back-payments to a SLP recipient who may have already taken some leave without pay. Donated time will be available for use by the recipient in accordance with regular payroll procedures and deadlines.
6. SLP hours may not be converted to cash.
7. The estate of a deceased employee is not entitled to payment for approved unused SLP hours.
8. If an employee earns additional leave benefits while drawing from the SLP, employee must use those hours before additional SL pool hours are used.
9. Eligible employees must apply for FMLA leave in conjunction with leave used from the SLP.
Requesting leave
1. Employees will request leave from the SLP at the My Missouri State portal. Designees for the employee may request leave by completing the Request for SLP Leave available in the office of human resources.
2. Any employee requesting leave from the SLP must provide a HIPAA release form provided by HR and appropriate documentation:
  1. Attending physician’s statement indicating the reason for the leave, beginning date of health condition and anticipated date employee will be able to return to work.
  2. Birth certificate, adoption certificate, or legal placement agreement.
3. After receiving a completed application, the office of human resources will verify the employee’s eligibility and status, including current accumulated leave and will notify the Committee of the need to meet. Immediately prior to the committee meeting, the eligibility will be reviewed, updated if necessary, and confirmed.
4. The human resources representative will notify the employee of the decision within five (5) business days of a decision by the committee.
5. Upon approval, the office of human resources will make the transfer of hours from the university’s SLP to the employee’s leave balance. The time sheet or leave request should be submitted with hours designated as shared leave at the recipient employee’s rate of pay. Shared Leave time may not be recorded for payroll purposes until the application has been approved.
6. The application form may be submitted up to 30 days in advance of need.
Donation of leave
1. An employee wishing to donate vacation leave to the shared leave donation bank will submit their donation online through the portal at My Missouri State.
2. HR reserves the right to ask employees separating employment from the University to donate unused vacation leave to the SLP.

7.19.7 Qualifying events

Incapacity due to pregnancy, prenatal medical care or child birth
To care for the employee’s child after birth, or placement for adoption or foster care
- 80 hours outlined under parental leave (paragraph 7.19.4-D)
To care for the employee’s spouse, sponsored dependent, son, daughter or parent, who has a serious health condition
For a serious health condition that makes the employee unable to perform the employee’s job
Bone marrow and organ donations (employee donating)

7.20 Long-term paid sick leave for faculty

Refer to the applicable Faculty Handbook sections regarding long-term sick leave for faculty.

7.21 Leave for victims of domestic or sexual violence

Effective August 28, 2021, the university will provide employees (whether full-time or part-time) who themselves have been the victim of domestic or sexual violence, or who have a family or household member who has been the victim of domestic or sexual violence, with unpaid leave in accordance with the requirements of Mo. Rev. Stat. § 285.630. For purposes of this type of leave, a “family or household member” means a “spouse, parent, son, daughter, other person related by blood or by present or prior marriage, other persons who share a relationship through a son or daughter, and persons jointly residing in the same household.”

An employee who qualifies for leave under Mo. Rev. Stat. § 285.630 is entitled to a total of two (2) workweeks of leave (i.e., 10 days) during any twelve-month period; provided, however, that an employee may not take unpaid leave that exceeds the amount of unpaid leave time authorized by the FMLA.

Leave may be taken either consecutively or intermittently in order to address the incident of violence by:

Seeking medical attention for, or recovering from, physical or psychological injuries caused by domestic or sexual violence to the employee or the employee’s family or household member;
Obtaining service from a victim services organization for the employee or the employee’s family or household member;
Obtaining psychological or other counseling for the employee or the employee’s family or household member;
Participating in safety planning, temporarily or permanently relocating, or taking other actions to increase the safety of the employee or the employee’s family or household member from future domestic or sexual violence or to ensure economic security; or
Seeking legal assistance or remedies to ensure the health and safety of the employee or the employee’s family or household member, including preparing for or participating in any civil or criminal legal proceeding related to or derived from domestic or sexual violence.

An employee who wishes to apply for leave under this Section 7.21 must contact the Deputy Compliance Officer at 417-836-6755 or DeputyComplianceOfficer@MissouriState.edu. The university reserves the right to require an employee to provide documentation confirming the domestic or sexual violence, consistent with Mo. Rev. Stat. § 285.630.5-6.

Note: The leave referenced in this Section 7.21 is intended to be coextensive with the requirements of Mo. Rev. Stat. § 285.630 and any interpreting regulations, if any, such that any inconsistencies between this Section 7.21 and Missouri law are resolved in favor of state law and/or regulations.