UAB has updated its approved leave policies to permit benefit-eligible employees to use accrued sick time for their own illness during the initial six-month probationary period and also receive donated sick leave for medical necessity. The changes apply to probationary employees who accrue sick time based on their employment category.
The idea for the change arose during discussions of UAB’s recently implemented parental leave policy, said Chief Human Resource Officer Alesia Jones. “There are rare situations when someone needs to take some time off due to a personal illness or injury before the end of the probationary period. Our policy at the time did not enable them to access the sick leave they had accumulated until that period ended,” she said.
The updated sick time and sick time donation policies create much more flexibility for employees and the units that hire them and provide both with protection, she said.
“We spend a great deal of time and energy to recruit high quality faculty and staff to UAB. We don’t want to lose them because of unavoidable illness or injury,” Jones said.
