Managing Personal Leaves
A personal leave is an unpaid leave generally used in situations not covered by other types of University or federal/state/local laws or additional time provided beyond federal/state/local laws. Therefore, employees not eligible for Paid Family Leave or the Family Medical Leave Act may consider requesting a personal leave of absence if they require more time that is available under the NY Safe and Sick Time Act.
Typical reasons for granting personal leave include:
- illness in the family
- education
- other compelling personal needs.
Below is a list of available University personal leaves. If the employee is covered by a Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA), the CBA should be consulted for more information.
University Personal Leaves and Vacation Accrual
Eligibility and Description
- Full-Time Officers of Administration, including those in an 11-Month Program: eligible to apply for an unpaid personal leave of absence.
- All Other Officers of Administration, including Nine-Month, 10-Month and benefits-eligible Part-Time Officers of Administration: eligible to apply for an unpaid personal leave of absence
- Officers of Instruction, Research and Libraries: please review the Faculty Handbook.
University policy allows for an unpaid leave for up to six months. This leave is granted only in cases not covered by any other University policy and requires the approval of both the employee’s department head and the Office of the Vice President for Human Resources or his or her designee. This leave is generally unpaid, though substitutions of paid time off are permitted by using vacation/personal/NY Safe and Sick Time, if applicable. Twelve months of service is required prior to requesting a personal leave.
Steps to Request a Personal Leave
An Officer requesting a personal leave should submit a written request, outlining the conditions prompting the need for the leave. Approval from the department and the Office of the Vice President of Human Resources, or his or her designee is required.
Vacation, Personal Days and Holiday Accrual
There is no accrual of vacation, personal or holiday time during an extended leave of absence (30 calendar days or longer). For additional information regarding accrual for overlapping months, see the Officers Form Process for Managers page in the Time and Attendance section of the toolkit.
Eligibility and Description
University policy allows for an unpaid leave for up to six (6) months. This leave is granted only in cases not covered by any other University policy and requires the approval of both the employee’s department head and the Office of the Vice President for Human Resources or his or her designee. This leave is generally unpaid, though substitutions of paid time off are permitted by using vacation/personal/NYC Earned Sick Time, if applicable. Twelve (12) months of service is required prior to requesting a personal leave.
Steps to Request a Personal Leave
Non-Union Support Staff requesting a personal leave should submit a written request, outlining the conditions prompting the need for the leave. Approval from the department and the Office of the Vice President of Human Resources, or his or her designee is required.
Vacation, Personal Days and Holiday Accrual
There is no accrual of vacation, personal or holiday time.
Union support staff may have personal leave time available. Please review the applicable CBA for more information.
Returning to Work
An employee is expected to return to work on the date agreed upon at the onset of the request for personal leave.
Useful Tools & Information
Employees may continue their benefits if on an approved leave of absence.
PAF Codes for Processing Leave Transactions
Any questions regarding procedures, FMLA or benefit eligibility should be addressed to CUHR Leave Management.
Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA)
In addition to FMLA, other University policies and laws, if eligible, will run concurrently, including NYC Earned Safe and Sick Time Act.
FMLA does not supersede any University policy or collective bargaining agreement that provides greater family or medical leave rights than the rights established under FMLA. Conversely, FMLA provides that the rights established for employees under FMLA cannot be diminished by any policy or agreement.
The leave granted under FMLA generally is a lesser benefit than that available under various University policies and collective bargaining agreements. Because the University meets or exceeds FMLA requirements in many respects, this policy designates many existing types of leave as FMLA leave, so that the University leave, Collective Bargaining Agreement and FMLA leave run concurrently.