Family & Medical Leave (FMLA)
The categories of FMLA are as follows:

• For incapacity due to pregnancy, prenatal medical care or child birth;
• To care for the employee’s child after birth, or placement for adoption or foster care;
• For personal illness resulting from a serious health condition that makes the employee unable to perform his/her job;
• To care for an employee's spouse, parent, son or daughter with a serious health condition.

FMLA and the NDAA:

The National Defense Authorization Act for FY 2008 (NDAA), Pub. L. 110-181. The NDAA amends the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 (FMLA) to permit a "spouse, son, daughter, parent, or next of kin" to take up to 26 workweeks of leave to care for a "member of the Armed Forces, including a member of the National Guard or Reserves, who is undergoing medical treatment, recuperation, or therapy, is otherwise in outpatient status, or is otherwise on the temporary disability retired list, for a serious injury or illness."

The NDAA also permits an employee to take FMLA leave for "any qualifying exigency, arising out of the fact that the spouse, or a son, daughter, or parent of the employee is on active duty (or has been notified of an impending call or order to active duty) in the Armed Forces in support of a contingency operation."

1. Employee submits a Leave Request Form to their supervisor for review and approval and obtains the Medical Certification of Physician or Practitioner (MCPP) form from Human Resource Management.
2. The completed MCPP form should be returned/mailed by the physician confidentially to Emmanuel Hillery in Human Resource Management.
3. The Department Head/Supervisor completes a Current Employee Change Form (and attaches the Leave Request Form) and routes it for approval.
4. The Department Head/Supervisor contacts the employee during the latter stages of the leave to determine a return to work date and ensures employee absences are charged correctly.

Note: In order to be eligible for FMLA leave, an employee must have worked at Buffalo State for at least 12 months immediately before the leave request and have worked at least 1250 hours during the 12 months immediately preceding the leave request. The 1250 work hour requirement also applies when an employee is reapplying for FMLA for a new calendar year. If the need for FMLA does not end with the end of a calendar year, the employee must have worked 1250 actual work hours in the prior calendar year to meet eligibility for FMLA coverage for the new calendar year. If eligible, the employee's FMLA entitlement will be for up to 12 weeks in the new calendar year. The department should start a new form for the new calendar year and request new medical certification, if for a serious health condition.

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Jury Duty  
If you are required to appear for jury duty or are subpoenaed as a witness in court, you shall be granted a leave of absence with pay without charge to leave accruals. If you are a party to a court proceeding, you will have to charge accruals other than sick for all such absences. Prior to attending jury duty, notify your supervisor and provide him/her with a copy of your orders from the court. Once you attend jury duty, the court will provide you with another document verifying your service. Attach this document to your attendance record and/or provide a copy to your supervisor.

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Leave Donation
The leave donation program was established to reduce financial hardship that might be endured by an employee who has exhausted all leave accruals during a personal extended medical leave of absence. Vacation accruals are the only leave credits that may be used for this purpose. The program is not intended to provide supplemental income that would result in wages greater than the employee's regular pay.

The program is open to all College employees. Any eligible employee at the College may donate accruals to a coworker in a different bargaining unit at Buffalo State or another SUNY campus.

Donor Eligibility
In order to donate vacation credits; an employee must meet the following criteria:

• Must have a minimum balance of ten (10) days after making the donation
• Must be employed at a SUNY campus.

The ten-day minimum is based on the donor's work schedule. For example, a 40 hour a week employee must have 80 hours of vacation remaining after a donation, a 50% 37½ hour a week part-time employee must have 37½ hours remaining, and so forth. Regardless of the donor's work schedule, donations must be made in full day (7.5 or 8 hour) units. Where the donor and recipient's workweeks are different (37½ vs. 40), donated days will be converted.

Excess vacation credits that would otherwise be lost by rule, law, or regulation may not be donated. The identity of donors will be kept confidential by the College.

Eligibility for Recipients of Donated Leave
In order to receive donated leave credits, a classified employee must meet the following criteria:

• Be subject to the Attendance Rules or otherwise eligible to earn leave credit.
• Have completed at least one cumulative year of State service.
• Be absent due to a non-occupational personal illness or disability for satisfactory medical documentation has been submitted to management.
• Have exhausted all leave credits which is achieved when an employee has a balance less than the number of hours in the employee's workday.
• The absence is expected to last at least two payroll periods following exhaust leave accruals or sick leave at half pay.
• Must not have had any disciplinary action or unsatisfactory performance evaluations within the employee's last three years of State service.*
• Be employed at a SUNY campus.*

The asterisked (*) items above also apply to UUP represented employees.

There is no maximum number of days that a recipient employee may accept, however, donated credits cannot be used to extend employment beyond the point it would otherwise end by operation of law, rule, or regulation. A recipient's continuing eligibility to participate in this program will be reviewed at least every 30 days.

Use of Donated Credits
At the recipient's request, donated credits may be used upon exhaustion of leave accruals and/or sick leave at half pay. Donated credits applied after leave accruals have been exhausted but before sick leave at half pay, must be used after exhaustion of sick leave at half pay, they may be used in full or half day increments at the employee's option based on their work schedule. (Using donated credits in half-day units has the effect of extending one's half pay eligibility.)

An employee using donated credits is considered to be in a leave without pay status. However, deductions for health insurance premiums, retirement contributions, etc., will continue to be withheld as long as the amount of the paycheck is large enough. Also, employees continue to accrue retirement service credit while using donated leave.

Solicitations
Donations may be solicited by the recipient employee, coworkers of the recipient, or by local union representatives where applicable. Neither managers nor Human Resource Management staff may solicit donations on an employee's behalf.

Processing of Donated Credits
Employees who wish to donate vacation accruals to a recipient may obtain the Leave Donation Form from the Payroll Office, Cleveland Hall 408. The Human Resource Management Office will determine whether the employee to whom credits have been donated is eligible, provided the recipient is employed at Buffalo State. If the recipient is employed at another SUNY campus, the College's Payroll Office will verify the recipient's status with their facility's payroll office.

When an employee receives donated credits from several donors, one day is deducted from each donor at a time. If the donor's total donation has not been exhausted by the time the recipient returns to work, the unused vacation will be restored to the donor.

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Leave Without Pay

1. Employee submits a Leave Request Form to Chair/Supervisor.
2. Chair/Supervisor contact HRM to discuss leave merits and implications (e.g., benefit coverage, leave accruals, retirement service credit, etc.).  Human Resource Management will discuss staffing options with Chair/Supervisor.
3. If approved, forward Leave Request Form and Current Employee Change Form for review and approval.
4. File fully approved Leave Request Form and Current Employee Change Form.

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Professional Services Negotiating Unit (Leave for Pregnancy, Childbirth and Child Care)

Sick leave may be used only during a period of medical disability. Under this policy, disabilities arising from pregnancy or childbirth are treated the same as other disabilities in terms of eligibility for or entitlement to sick leave. Generally, the period of such disability is deemed to commence approximately four weeks prior to delivery. While doctor's certificates may be required for any period of disability, campuses should request detailed medical documentation whenever disability is claimed to commence prior to or to extend beyond the period of disability described above.

A Chief Administrative Officer or designee may approve an employee's request for leave without pay during pregnancy and prior to the onset of any medical disability as a matter of discretion. Absences during pregnancy and following childbirth may be charged to vacation, irrespective of whether the employee is disabled. While the use of annual leave prior to the onset of medical disability is discretionary with the Chief Administrative Officer, employees must be permitted to use these accruals during a period of medical disability after sick leave with pay has been exhausted.

Employees, regardless of sex, are entitled to leave without pay for child care for up to seven months following the date of delivery. For purposes of computing the seven month period of mandatory leave, periods during which the employee was absent for "disability" or use of leave credits are included: the mandatory seven month period is not extended by the granting of disability leave or the use of accrued leave. During a period of leave for child care, employees shall be permitted, upon request, to use annual leave before being granted leave without pay. As is the case with other mandatory leaves without pay (e.g., military leave), the University shall not require that employees exhaust all appropriate leave credits prior to being granted leave without pay for child care. Sick leave may be used only during a period of medical disability. Except in the case of continuing medical disability, any leave of absence beyond the seventh month following childbirth shall be at the discretion of the Chief Administrative Officer. An employee who requests a leave for child care of less than seven months is entitled to have such leave extended, upon request, up to the seventh month maximum and may at the discretion of the Chief Administrative Officer or designee, have such leave extended beyond the seventh month. In certain situations, an employee may not be permitted to return from such leave until the expiration of the period that such employee requested and was granted. Generally, such restrictions on early return are limited to situations where such return would be disruptive of a project or where the termination of a replacement would occur.

During the seven month period following childbirth, the granting of leave for child care is mandatory upon request from either parent. If both parents are State employees, leave for the child care is mandatory for one parent at a time and the parents may elect to split the mandatory seven month leave into two separate blocks of leave with each parent entitled to one continuous period of leave but not to exceed a combined total of seven months of leave and not to extend beyond seven months from the date of delivery.

Campuses may, in their discretion, approve other arrangements for shared leave including concurrent leave and may, as a matter of discretion, extend leave for child care beyond the mandatory seven months.

Furthermore, while one parent is absent on leave for child care, campuses continue to have the discretion to approve requests from the other parent for periods of vacation, pursuant to Paragraph 23.2(e) of the 1988-91 Agreement between the State of New York and United University Professions.

Temporary and probationary employees without any permanent status are entitled to leave with full pay and/or without pay as described above. However, these employees are not eligible for leave beyond that date when their employment would otherwise terminate. In general, the State's policy on leave for pregnancy, childbirth and child care shall not be construed to require extension of any employment beyond the time it would otherwise terminate.

In cases of legal adoption under Article 7 of the Domestic Relations Law, leave for child-rearing purposes shall be granted where the adoptive child is required to reside with the adoptive parents for at least six months prior to an order of adoption being made. In such cases, leave for child-rearing purposes shall be granted for six months commencing from the date the adoptive child begins actual full-time residence with the adoptive parents. Additional leave for child-rearing purposes may be granted in the discretion of the Chief Administrative Officer; provided, however, child-rearing leave shall not exceed a period of two years cumulatively.

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Return from Leave

1. Contact employee during the latter stages of the approved leave period to confirm return to work date.
2. Prepare a Current Employee Change Form and forward for approval.

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Sabbatical

1. Receive request for Sabbatical Leave Form from employee.
2. Refer to Article XIII, Title E of the Policies of the Board of Trustees for information related to sabbaticals.
3. Consult department by-laws and Academic Affairs policies regarding sabbaticals.
4. Review the Sabbatical Leave Form and make recommendation.
5. Complete a Current Employee Change Form, attach the Sabbatical Leave Form, and route for approval.
6. File the fully approved Change Form and update the employee's record and file.

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Sick, Maternity or Child Care Leave

1. Employee submits a Leave Request Form to their supervisor for review and approval and obtains the Medical Certification of Physician or Practitioner (MCPP) form from Human Resource Management.
2. The completed MCPP form should be returned/mailed by the physician confidentially to Emmanuel Hillery in Human Resource Management.
3. The Department Head/Supervisor will contact Emmanuel Hillery to confirm that he has received the necessary medical documentation and has determined that the length of leave requested is in keeping with the medical documentation received. 
4. Once it has been established that the sick leave request is justified by medical documentation, the supervisor will complete a Current Employee Form (and attach the Leave Request Form) and route it for approval. 
5. File the fully approved Change Form.  Following final approval, the individual will receive a letter confirming the leave as well as information about employee benefits from Human Resource Management.
6. Ensure employee's absences are charged to the appropriate accruals.

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Title F

1. Receive and review the request for Title F leave from the employee.
2. Refer to Article XIII, Title F of the Policies of the Board of Trustees for information related to Title F leaves.
3. Consult with Human Resource Management for information related to Title F leaves.
4. Recommend the leave for approval and prepare and route a Current Employee Change Form authorizing the leave. Rationale to support Title F leave must be included when request is advanced for managerial review. Such statement must include a statement of the purpose for which the leave is requested, its anticipated duration, and its value to the applicant and the College.  For approved leaves at full or partial pay, Human Resource Management will prepare a UP-3 Form and forward it to the SUNY University-Wide Human Resources Office.
5. File the fully approved Change Form and update the employee's records and file.

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Workers Compensation

1. The employee sustains a workplace illness or injury.
2. Call the Accident Reporting System (ARS) at 1-888-800-0029 to report the injury and complete an Injury/Illness Form.
3. The employee reports the incident to his/her supervisor. Such notice must occur within three (3) working days of the incident. Failure to report the injury/illness may jeopardize entitlement to workers compensation benefits.

• If any injury exposes an employee to possible blood borne viruses or bodily fluids, the employee may contact HealthWorks WNY for additional medical treatment. The employee may also choose to contact his/her personal doctor to report such exposure.
• If an injury/illness requires immediate medical attention, contact University Police at ext. 6333.

4. The supervisor or employee completes the Injury/Illness Form, signs and dates, and forwards to Human Resource Management.  Human Resource Management or Environmental Health & Safety will contact Campus Services to request corrective action on any item needing repair or replacement to prevent recurrence.
5. As required, HRM or The State Insurance Fund representative may contact the employee or supervisor to clarify incident report.
6. If the employee begins to lose time from work, the supervisor must notify HRM immediately and report ALL days lost as a result of the incident.
7. Employee returns to work. As required, HRM will contact the supervisor to review an alternate duty assignment. Any medical information received must be handled in a confidential manner.

Buffalo State's Workers Compensation Insurance Carrier: The State Insurance Fund, 225 Oak Street, Buffalo, NY 14203, (716) 851-2000.

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