11.1 Continuous Service. Employees on authorized leaves of absence with or without pay shall not be deemed to have interrupted continuous services with the College, but such periods of absence shall not be considered in meeting service requirements for eligibility for consideration for a continuing appointment or career appointment as may be appropriate to their status or conditions of employment.
11.2
A. Sick Leave. Beginning on the date of his/her appointment, an employee shall accrue one and three- quarters (1.75) days of sick leave credit per calendar month (or major fraction thereof) of service to the College. In no event shall an employee’s sick leave accruals exceed 225 days. Sick leave accruals may be used by employees who are unable to perform their duties including overload teaching because of personal illness or illness in the employee’s immediate family. The term “immediate family” shall mean the employee’s grandparent, parent, sibling, spouse, child or grandchild, mother-in-law or father-in-law, sister-in-law or brother-in-law or an individual who serves in the same relationship. An employee may use up to two (2) weeks of sick leave for the purpose of, and immediately upon, the placement with the employee of a child for adoption or foster care.
B. Sick Leave Donation Program
1. The intent of the sick leave donation program is to provide a means to assist bargaining unit members who, because of long-term serious personal illness or the long-term serious illness of a spouse, a child, a parent or an individual who serves in the same relationship with a serious condition approvable un FMLA, who have exhausted their accrued sick leave and other paid leave accruals and would otherwise be subject to loss of income during a continuing absence from work. The Sick Bank is not intended to provide supplemental income which would result in compensation levels exceeding normal wages for employees who have other sources of substitute income such as that provided by disability insurance programs. Neither is it intended for use by employees disabled under Workers’ Compensation.
2. Any bargaining unit member who has one (1) year of service must contribute two(2) days of sick leave to the Sick Bank in order to be eligible to participate in the benefits of the Sick Bank. The contribution shall be made by written notification to Human Resources no later than August 31st following the first anniversary date of the member’s first day of service. Membership in the Sick Bank will begin on the date of receipt of notification of contribution by the Office of Human Resources.
3. Should the total balance of the Sick Bank fall below 150 days, each Sick Bank participant who wishes to continue to be eligible to utilize the Sick Bank must donate one (1) additional day of sick leave as contribution to the Sick Bank. Bargaining unit members who do not contribute said additional day of sick leave to the Sick Bank shall not thereafter be eligible to participate in the benefits of the Sick Bank until the next Sick Bank election period.
4. To apply for withdrawal of sick days from the Sick Bank, a member must:
A. Have completed at least one (1) year of service.
B. Have donated to the Sick Bank as required.
C. Be absent from work continuously for at least five (5) days due to non-occupational illness or disability or to care for a spouse, a child, a parent, or an individual who services in the same relationship with a serious health condition for which medical documentation satisfactory to the College is submitted or required.
D. Have used all their personal sick time and other paid leave accruals due to bargaining unit employee’s long-term illness or to care for a spouse, a child, a parent, or an individual who serves in the same relationship with a serious health condition.
E. Submit a written request to Human Resources for access to the Sick Bank, including the number of days required.
F. The Member will receive written notification of approval or denial of their request from Human Resources.
5. The Office of Human Resources will keep a permanent record of all applications for use of the Sick Bank.
6. The PA will receive notification of each instance of withdrawal or donation of sick leave to the Sick Bank.
7. Recipients.
A. There is a sixty (60) day yearly limit on the total number of days a bargaining unit member may receive while employed at the college.
B. Vacation and sick leave accruals are not earned by recipients.
C. Health insurance premiums, retirement contributions and other benefits provided herein shall continue as long as the recipient is on donated leave.
11.3 Jury and Court Appearance. The Employer shall permit an employee showing proof of call to jury service, or subject to appearing as a witness pursuant to subpoena, to absent themselves without charge to leave credits during such period when required to so serve or appear, as the case may be, provided that any fees, excluding mileage allowances, received by them as a juror shall be paid over to the Employer in a daily amount not to exceed the daily rate of compensation paid as salary.
11.4 Professional Leave Without Salary.The Employer may grant leaves of absence without salary, not to exceed one year, for the purpose of permitting an employee to commence, continue, or complete advanced study, serve as an exchange teacher, serve with a professional organization, or to perform research in their area of professional competence when, in the opinion of the Employer, such leave would be in the best interests of the employee and the College, and when such absence would not unduly affect normal College operations or the academic program. The Employer may extend such leaves for additional periods of not to exceed one year each. Employees granted such leaves shall continue to be eligible for participation in retirement and health insurance programs to the extent permitted by law at their own cost and expense.
11.5 Funeral and Bereavement Leave. The Employer shall permit employees to absent themselves, without loss of salary, not to exceed four (4) days to attend the funeral and for other concerns resulting from the death of a member of the employee’s immediate family. The term immediate family shall refer to 11.2A above.
11.6 Sabbatical Leave. Sabbatical leaves will be granted by the College to employees in accordance with standards and practices developed by the College. Such leaves may be granted for one semester at full pay or one year at half-pay or one(1) year with half time leave and full pay..
Pursuant to and in accordance with the rules of relevant regulating bodies, all benefits such as retirement premiums, group insurance plans, and the like shall continue in effect during the sabbatical period. A career or continuing appointment shall remain in effect and sabbatical leave period shall accrue service credit and vested rights in accordance with the regulations of the subscriber’s pension plan.
11.7 Vacation Leave.
A. Accrual of Vacation Credit: Fiscal-year employees serving on a full-time basis shall accrue credits for vacation leave at the following rates:
1. Employees hired prior to 9/1/98:
a. Level I: 21 days per year
b. Level II: 22 days per year
c. Levels III and IV: 23 days per year
2. Employees hired after 8/31/98:
a. Level I: 15 days per year
b. Level II: 19 days per year
c. Levels III and IV: 23 days per year
All accruals shall be per calendar month during each month (or major fraction thereof) of their service to the College. In addition, such employees shall be entitled to an additional day of vacation leave for each bank holiday on which required to work. No vacation leave shall be accrued by or be granted to an academic-year employee.
B. Accumulation of Vacation Credit: Employees may carry over a maximum of forty (40) days accrued vacation leave from one fiscal year into the next. Employees who leave the College during the fiscal year will be paid for no more than forty (40) accrued vacation leave. Any employee who loses vacation credit through the fault of the College will receive compensation for the vacation time lost.
C. Use of Vacation Leave Credit: Vacation leave may not be taken prior to accrual thereof. Vacation leave shall be taken at such times as may be approved by the President or his/her designated officer. Employees will be notified in writing of approval or denial of their vacation leave request no later than ten work-days from the date of the request. No charge to vacation leave shall be made with respect to a day during which an employee would not otherwise have been required to work, such as bank holidays or special days designated by the County.
D. Holidays: Fiscal-year employees serving on a full-time basis shall receive the following paid holidays:
| New Year’s Day | Labor Day |
| Martin Luther King, Jr.Day | Columbus Day |
| Lincoln’s Birthday | Election Day |
| Washington’s Birthday | Veterans’ Day |
| Good Friday | Thanksgiving Day |
| Memorial Day | Day after Thanksgiving |
| Juneteenth | Christmas Day |
| Independence Day |
E. In-lieu-of Days: The College may designate up to five (5) consecutive work days in lieu of up to five (5) of the foregoing holidays to be taken between the end of the Fall semester and the beginning of the Spring semester each of the three years of this agreement. Bargaining unit members will be notified of the College’s election on or prior to September 1.
11.8
A. Individual Personal Leave. Bargaining unit members shall be entitled to three (3) days of personal leave per academic year. Notice of intent to utilize such leave will be made (except in emergencies) a minimum of two (2) working days in advance, in writing, and is to be directed to the President or their designee through the immediate supervisor following procedures established by the College. In addition to notice of intent to utilize personal leave, bargaining unit members seeking personal leave for commencement, during the week before the beginning of classes in the fall and spring semesters, final registration, or during the final examination period must also specify the purpose of the leave. Only in exceptional circumstances will a notice of intent to utilize personal leave be honored at these times. If personal days are not used, the days will convert to sick leave.
B. Bargaining Unit Personal Leave. In addition to the individual personal leave provided herein, the College shall annually make available twenty (20) days of leave for use by members of the bargaining unit. This leave may be utilized upon the approval of the President of the Professional Association. Notice of intent to utilize such leave will be made (except in emergencies) a minimum of two (2) working days in advance to the immediate supervisor with a copy to the Executive Director of Human Resources. Leave recipients shall be permitted to rearrange their schedule or to otherwise provide coverage for their own classes and/or duties, subject to review by their immediate supervisor and approval by the Executive Director of Human Resources. Such leave shall be taken in increments of one-half (1/2) day .
11.9 Other Leaves. The President, at the President’s discretion, may recommend members of the bargaining unit of the College for other leaves of absence at full salary or reduced salary to become effective upon approval of the Board or may grant such leave without salary
Such leave shall include, but is not limited to, the following: in addition to the twelve (12) weeks of leave required by the Family Medical Leave Act, the President shall grant up to an additional six (6) weeks of unpaid leave in order to give birth, or to care for a newborn child, or for placement with the employee of a child for adoption or foster care, if such leave does not absent the bargaining unit member from the delivery of instruction in more than one semester. The President, at the President’s discretion, may extend this leave to a total of one year. The employee, at the employee’s discretion, may use vacation, compensatory, or sick (if appropriate) leave, as part of such leave. Use of paid and/or unpaid leave in excess of the above limits shall be as provided herein.
Application. Applications for such leaves of absence shall be made to the President. Each such application shall include a statement of the purpose for which the leave is requested, its anticipated duration, and its value to the applicant or the College.
11.10 Limitations-Term Appointment. Notwithstanding anything contained in this article, no leaves of absence shall be deemed to extend the terms of members of the bargaining unit having term appointments, and all leaves of absence shall, in any event, terminate upon expiration of such terms.
11.11 Association Leave. The Association President or their designee shall be afforded five (5) days paid leave per academic year for the purpose of attendance at NYSUT state-wide conferences/conventions of Representative Assemblies, Community College Conference and NYSUT Committee meetings, Notice of the taking of such leave shall be forwarded to the Executive Director of Human Resources not less than fifteen (15) business days in advance thereof.
Three (3) days shall be provided as paid leave to the Association President or their designee for the purpose of lobbying activities on behalf of the College. Notice of taking such leave shall be forwarded to the Executive Director of Human Resources not less than two (2) business days in advance thereof.
Leave recipients shall be permitted to rearrange their schedule or to otherwise provide coverage for their own classes and/or duties, subject to review by their immediate supervisor and approval by the Executive Director of Human Resources. Such leave shall be taken in increments of one-half day.
11.12 Part-time employment while on leave. A bargaining unit member on leave may temporarily work on a part-time basis subject to the following conditions :
A. All part-time employment shall be by mutual written agreement among the College, the Association and the bargaining unit member. Such agreement may be terminated by ten (10) working days notice by either the College or the bargaining unit member.
B. Part-time employment may include work at home and/or the College.
C. During part-time employment for a bargaining unit member on unpaid leave, all pay and benefits shall be prorated.
D. During part-time employment for a bargaining unit member on paid leave, the use of leave shall be prorated.
11.13 The College shall not be required to afford a bargaining unit member who is on leave as specified in 11.2, 11.4, 11.6, 11.9 or 11.12, any priority consideration for overload assignments under 5.6.D. Bargaining unit members commencing any such leave while teaching overload, or who begin a reduced work load while teaching overload, shall not be removed from the overload assignments(s) for the duration of such overload assignments(s) on account of commencing of any such leave.