Academic Breaks and Sabbaticals
Faculty members essentially work a nine-month contract, although it is expected that the summer will be devoted in part to professional development and scholarly activities. Likewise, there may be exceptional circumstances when communication with faculty members is necessary during academic breaks (winter, summer, etc.) and sabbaticals, e.g., for input on time-sensitive issues such as student grade appeals and course scheduling; therefore it is important for faculty members to be available for communication by providing contact information to the Office of Academic Affairs. If a faculty member anticipates being unavailable for a period of time, that information should also be provided. During the academic year faculty members are expected to be available for one week before the beginning of classes and one week after the last scheduled final. During the academic year faculty members have the same holidays as students. It should be made clear, however, that with adequate notice a request for an Academic Area or faculty meeting (or other meeting) might be called during a student holiday. Faculty members will be expected to attend such meetings.
Sick Leave
Faculty members who are unable to perform their job due to illness or injury for a short period of time (normally less than a week) during the contract year should notify their Area Coordinator, who will notify the Dean of Faculty and others with a need to know. Absences of 3 consecutive work days or more will require a doctor’s certification. The faculty member and Area Coordinator will arrange to have colleagues in the Academic Area or other faculty either dismiss the class or teach the class. Faculty members will receive their regular pay during periods of short absences (less than 8 calendar days).
Whenever it becomes evident that an illness or disability will exceed 3 concurrent work days, provisions of the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) may be applied. If the illness or disability exceeds 7 concurrent days, short-term disability may be applied. A medical leave longer than 90 days may be eligible for long-term disability.
Extended sickness (up to 12 weeks) will not result in loss of position or loss of tenure. Pay during extended sickness may be covered by the College’s disability plan if occurring during the academic year. Arrangements for the timing and nature of resuming academic work (virtual or in person) will be made in conjunction with the Area Coordinator and Dean of Faculty. Faculty that experience extended illnesses during the contract year must apply for short term disability benefits that would begin on the 8th calendar day of absence for up to 12 weeks. These absences may also qualify under the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) if an employee has worked for the College for at least 12 months and not used up all FMLA for the year. To receive FMLA protection for a foreseeable leave, the employee must notify Human Resources in writing at least 30 days prior to the event. If the event is unforeseeable, the need for FMLA protection must be communicated to Human Resources in writing as soon as practicable. Illnesses that continue beyond 90 days may qualify for long term disability benefits. (see Section 2.15.1(7)).
Under the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), a qualified employee must be granted up to 12 weeks of leave in a 12-month period* for absences due to (1) the birth or placement of a child with the employee for adoption or foster care, (2) any documented serious health condition of the employee, (3) a documented serious health condition of a spouse, son, daughter, or parent of the employee, (4) a qualifying exigency arising out of the fact that your spouse; son or daughter; or parent is on covered active duty or call to covered active duty status with the Armed Forces or (5) you are the spouse; son or daughter; parent; or next of kin of a covered service member with a serious injury or illness. The remaining time will be unpaid unless, in the case of childbirth or personal illness, the employee qualifies for short-term disability.
*The 12-month period begins based on the beginning of the first FMLA leave requested by an employee and is defined for each employee.
A “qualified” employee is defined by law as one who has been employed for at least twelve months (not necessarily consecutive months) and have worked at least 1,250 hours during the previous twelve-month period. An employee must also be at a work site where the employer has at least 50 employees no more than 75 miles from the site.
A “serious health condition” is defined as (1) an illness, injury, impairment or physical or mental condition that involves a period of incapacity or treatment following in-patient care in a hospital, hospice or medical care facility, (2) a period of incapacity requiring an absence or more than three days, or (3) continuing treatment by or under supervision of a health care provided for a chronic or long-term condition or disability that is incurable.
For birth, adoption or foster care placement, the leave must be taken all at one time (see Parental Leave Policy, 2.14.10, for further information about this situation). For other covered reasons, the leave may be taken consecutively, intermittently, or on a reduced schedule. However, if the leave is based on planned medical treatment, employees are required to make a reasonable effort to schedule the treatment so as not to unduly disrupt the operation of the College. (Under the law, classroom instructors may not be able to take intermittent or reduced-schedule leave if it takes them out of the classroom for more than 20% of the time and is deemed to be too disruptive to students. In addition, they may not be permitted to return from leave near the end of a school term.)
Again, qualification for leave under FMLA does not result automatically in paid leave. However, benefits will be maintained during FMLA leave with the employee paying the same share as is normal.
Unless designated as a “key employee as defined by the Family Medical Leave Act,” an employee taking leave under FMLA will be returned to the employee’s same (or equivalent) position unless the employee would have been terminated in the absence of any leave. A doctor’s release is required for employees on FMLA leave for their personal illness. Failure to return at the end of the approved leave period shall be treated as a voluntary termination by the employee.
Military Leave
Military Leave will be granted in accordance with the law.
Civil Duty (Jury Duty)
Time off will be granted for jury duty to all full-time faculty members. The College will pay the difference between the jury allowance and the faculty member's regular salary. Due to the fact that payment for jury duty is not received until the end of the semester, the faculty member will be paid his/her regular salary with the stipulation that all monies received for jury duty will be signed over to the College. Receipts of payment for jury duty should be presented to the Human Resources Office to ensure proper record keeping. Upon notification of jury duty, the Area Coordinator and the appropriate Vice President should be notified.
Bereavement
The College recognizes that the occurrence of death in the immediate family may require an absence from work for a period of time. A faculty member will be allowed necessary absence with pay to attend or to make funeral arrangements. Extensive absences should be discussed with the appropriate Vice President.
Personal Leave
Such leaves with pay are almost never approved.
Vacation
Faculty members leaving Wilmington (or their normal home address) for an extended vacation (usually more than a week) shall notify the Academic Dean/Dean of the Faculty or the President that they will be gone and where they might be reached during the vacation.
Absences
Faculty members must notify the Academic Dean/Dean of the Faculty, the Vice President for External Programs, as appropriate, when they are unable to report for work. The administrator may request a certificate signed by the attending physician for absences caused by illness. In instances of hospitalization or extended illness (five or more working days), or absence due to a job injury, it may be necessary to obtain a release from the attending physician before returning to work. A faculty member, who must leave the campus during the day, thus missing classes, should also notify the appropriate administrator prior to leaving. Any faculty member who is habitually absent from his/her job without proper proof of illness will be considered to have a chronic absenteeism problem and will be counseled by the appropriate Vice President and/or the Human Resources Office. Dismissal proceedings may follow if efforts are not made to correct the problem.
Leave of Absence (Without Pay)
In special circumstances, a personal leave of absence without pay may be granted. Requests for unpaid leaves of absence must be submitted, in writing, for a specified period of time (usually at least one semester and not more than two years) to the Academic Dean/Dean of the Faculty or Vice President for External Programs. The leave must be approved by the Area Coordinator with the final approval by the Academic Dean/Dean of the Faculty or Vice President for External Programs and the President.
Requests should be made as far in advance as possible. The faculty member may return to active status prior to the originally scheduled expiration of the leave, if such earlier return is agreed to by the Academic Dean/Dean of the Faculty and the President.
Requests will be handled on a case-by-case basis considering:
- purpose and length of the leave
- expected length of service of the faculty member upon his/her return
- current length of service of the faculty member
- the operating needs of the Academic Area
- the problem incurred in hiring a temporary replacement
Personal leaves will normally be granted by the semester, by year or for two years. If a faculty member wants to extend a leave from a semester to a year, or any similar extension, s/he must apply in writing to the Academic Dean/Dean of the Faculty or the Vice President for External Programs for such an extension. If the leave extension is disapproved, the faculty member must return to work at the previously agreed time. Usually leaves will not be granted for a time longer than the faculty member's service to Wilmington College.
If it is found that the leave is not actually being used for the purpose for which it was granted, the Academic Dean/Dean of the Faculty may cancel the leave and direct the faculty member to return to work by giving written notice to the faculty member. If the faculty member is actively working at another assignment (unless previously approved as part of the leave provision), corrective action, up to and including dismissal, will be taken. A faculty member who fails to return to duty at the usual time following a leave of absence will also be dismissed. All dismissals referred to in this section will follow Sections 2.8.3 or 2.8.4.
A faculty member on a personal leave of absence must pay the total cost of the group life, disability and health insurance plan normally provided by the College if coverage is to be continued. Faculty members on leave of absence because of illness may be required to furnish a certificate indicating that the employee is sufficiently disabled to prevent performance of assigned duties. This certificate must be from a physician agreed upon by the faculty member and the Human Resources Office. If the certificate does not show sufficient disability to prevent the faculty member from performing assigned duties, the Academic Dean/Dean of the Faculty may cancel such leave and require the faculty member to report for duty on a specified date. Upon returning to work from a medical leave, the faculty member will be required to furnish a statement indicating ability to perform assigned duties from an agreed upon physician.
A personal leave of absence may be granted for such reasons as, but not limited to:
- health problems of an extended nature
- maternity, paternity or care of family member
- extended vacation period
- educational purposes
- to serve in an elected civil office
- to serve with Vista, the Peace Corps, or other similar agencies
- military leave
Parental Leave Policy
In order to assist and support new parent relationships and to assist with balancing work and family matters, Wilmington College provides Paid Parental Leave to eligible full- time faculty and staff as follows.
Paid Parental Leave is defined as leave for the birth of a child to an eligible employee (biological parent) or the placement of a child with an eligible employee for adoption (each of which is a qualifying event) and excludes other types of leave. Although the birthing and non- birthing parent are both eligible for Paid Parental Leave, if both parents are employees of Wilmington College, the paid leave must be shared between them.
Paid Parental Leave must be taken within one year of the qualified event and may not be taken intermittently. However, Paid Parental Leave may be granted prior to an adoption when deemed necessary to fulfill legal requirements.
Paid Parental Leave will run concurrently with Family and Medical Leave (FMLA) but will be a supplement to Short Term Disability benefits when applicable.
Employees on Paid Parental Leave will maintain all benefits and deductions for required taxes and benefit premiums will be taken.
Faculty
Full-time faculty members are eligible for 10 weeks of paid parental leave at 100% of their base compensation in a semester in the 12 months following the birth or adoption. For the birthing parent, it will be combined with and in addition to short-term disability; however, the combined short-term disability and paid leave benefits may not exceed 16 weeks. If short-term disability benefits exceed 6 weeks, the 10 weeks of paid leave will be correspondingly reduced to limit the total leave to 16 weeks.
Coordination with the Academic Dean/Dean of Faculty will be required in scheduling Paid Parental Leave and will address specific circumstances for a faculty member’s return to work. It will be understood that, if a return to duties occurs during a semester, there may not be a return to teaching duties, or there may be a return to partial teaching duties, depending on circumstances. A return to work without teaching duties may include committee assignments, departmental duties, advising, or special faculty projects (not clerical or non- faculty work), depending on circumstances.