I. Absences

A.

Absences for reasons other than sudden illness or dire emergency require concurrence in advance by the employee's immediate administrator. Except in the case of absence due to illness or a dire emergency, the employee shall file a written request to be absent far enough in advance to give the immediate administrator adequate opportunity to review the request and if the request is approved to make arrangements for work coverage. In the event of sudden illness or a dire emergency, the employee or a member of the immediate family shall notify by telephone any of the employee's supervising administrators or the Human Resources Department as soon as possible.

B.

When a full-time employee is absent for any reason, the immediate administrator shall record the absence through the leave accounting process. In the event of an absence of more than three consecutive days or a pattern of intermittent absences, the immediate administrator must immediately notify the Human Resources Department to ensure compliance with the Family Medical Leave Act and assess the employee's potential eligibility for disability benefits and salary continuation from the appropriate leave balance.

II. Substitution

A.

When possible, the immediate administrator shall arrange for work coverage by other full-time members of the department during the first five days of a full-time employee's absence.

B.

After a full-time employee has been sick for more than five consecutive work days, the immediate administrator is authorized to obtain a qualified part-time substitute paid at part-time rates to assume the employee's schedule. With advance approval by the unit vice president, the five-day minimum can be waived. If the immediate administrator determines that a part-time substitute is not available and that it is necessary for a qualified full-time exempt department member to work in excess of his/her regular schedule to assume the absent employee's workload, the substituting employee will be granted compensation in the form of teaching load credit or released time (or overload pay if the substitution does not fall within the eight-hour period designated by the immediate administrator as the work day for the substituting full-time employee). If the substituting full-time employee is non-exempt, the compensation shall be in the form of compensatory time as defined in the Policy 1.12 Workload for Faculty and Policy 1.13 Exempt Personnel. Compensation shall be taken on a schedule that the immediate administrator approves after taking into account the projected work schedule of the department.