Paid Sick Leave FAQs

• 9-month faculty are already eligible for sick leave under Regent Policy 11E.
• Sick leave benefits shall be available to faculty on nine-month appointments or contracts.  Each eligible person shall be entitled to five and a half (5.5 days) (44 hours) of sick leave at full salary accrued at the beginning of each of the fall and spring semesters.  Employees who work part-time earn sick leave on a pro-rated basis. Accrual begins on the date employment begins. Provided that, not more than eleven (11) days (88 hours) of sick leave at full salary may be accumulated in any calendar year.

• No. Independent contractors are not considered employees and are not eligible for leave.

• No, all University Staff employees are eligible for sick leave under our sick leave plan, which accrues at a higher rate than the HFWA.

• No. If an employee has a full-time appointment and a secondary appointment, no additional sick leave will accrue under the secondary appointment as the employee is already accruing the maximum amount of sick leave.

• If you are a student employee or student faculty, contact Student Employment via stuemphelp@uccs.edu.
• If you are a lecturer or other temporary staff, contact HR at hrhelp@uccs.edu.

• The leave will come from the speedtype for the position that leave is taken in.

• Each employee will earn one hour of sick leave per 30 hours worked. This breaks down to approximately .034 hours per hour worked for hourly employees. Leave accrued will show in My Leave after each pay period.

• For academic employees paid via a contract, sick leave is accrued based on the number of credit hours or the standard hours for the position. The maximum accrual amount for a contract position is 3 days, 24 hours per semester for a full-time employee.
• Sick leave amounts will be granted after census date each semester and will be available for immediate use.

• No. You may only use sick leave to cover hours you would normally be scheduled to work.

• Sick leave can be used in 15-minute increments, similar to how other leave is used today and to match My Leave functionality.

• No, except in limited circumstances for retirement eligible employees, sick leave does not pay out upon your separation from the university.

• Yes. Sick leave accrued as a student employee or other temporary employee will transfer into your balance for any university staff, classified staff or 12-month faculty position.

• Yes, in limited amounts. Sick leave from university staff, classified staff or 12-month faculty positions up to the maximum of 48 hours transfers to temporary or student positions. Any sick leave above the 48 hour maximum for temporary positions will be forfeited upon transfer to the other appointment.

• Yes, anyone with a bona fide employee relationship is eligible. The majority of PERA working retirees are hourly in the TMP pay group so will work the same as students. For the small group of daily-paid working retirees in pay group USN, SCA adjustments will be required following each payroll to grant leave balances. To avoid this the employees could be converted to monthly-hourly overtime exempt employees. Or, set up the same as hourly TMP working retirees.

The HFWA covers most employees in Colorado, including full-time, part-time, and temporary employees. 

The HFWA defines a family member as a person who is related by blood, marriage, civil union, or adoption to the employee; a child to whom the employee stands or stood in loco parentis; and a person for whom the employee is responsible for providing or arranging health or safety-related care.

Yes, you can request documentation if an employee takes paid sick leave for more than three consecutive days. However, the law prohibits requiring documentation that violates the employee's privacy.

This leave allows eligible employees to take job-protected leave for issues related to domestic violence or sexual assault, such as seeking medical attention, counseling, legal assistance, or safety planning.

Please contact the Office of Human Resources. Departments may have attendance expectations that align with the requirements of the HFWA. These policies must be vetted through the Office of Human Resources. Supervisors with concerns about their employee’s attendance may also have concerns about the employee’s work performance and we may need to address attendance concerns through these concerns. 

In general, yes, travel time to a healthcare appointment is also included in allowable usage of sick time. This includes if a healthcare provider is outside of Colorado Springs. 

Yes, employees can take planned or unplanned sick leave for the purpose of taking care of their mental health, or the mental health of a family member.