Guideline P-062

Subject: Faculty Sick Leave

Sick leave is intended to meet the legitimate health needs of employees who were absent from the work place due to illness. Faculty, even though their work assignments often require variable schedules both day and evening as well as assignments which include a wide variety of activities -- classes, office hours, committee assignments, research in laboratories and libraries, etc. -- are, nevertheless, subject to sick leave policy in a very specific and direct way.

The charging of sick leave for time away from work by a faculty member due to legitimate health reasons is not a penalty; sick leave was instituted by the Tennessee Board of Regents to cover just such absences. It is the responsibility of each faculty member to report his or her sick leave to the appropriate authority. As a general guideline, all faculty have responsibilities Monday through Friday for a minimum of 37.5 hours of any week in which the institution is in session.  Any day-long absence during the regular work week due to illness should be charged to the faculty member as sick leave at the rate of 7.5 hours per day. 

Arrangements to cover a class either by the faculty member or the institution do not mitigate the fact that the faculty member was away from his or her work assignment and sick leave should be charged accordingly.  If a faculty member is absent from his or her work assignment for part of a day, he or she should discuss the appropriate sick leave time to be charged with his or her department chair, dean, or immediate supervisor. 


Source:   November 1, 1988 presidents meeting