Time off and leave

Annual Leave

Full-time, Administrative employees are granted 1.83 days per month (22 days per year) of annual leave with a maximum accrual & carryover of 44 days. Employees with 5-10 years of service with CMU will accrue 2 days per month (24 days per year) of annual leave with a maximum accrual & carryover of 48 days. Employees with 10+ years of service with CMU will accrue 2.17 days per month (26 days per year) of annual leave with a maximum accrual & carryover of 48 days.

Part-time employees accrue a prorated amount. Accrued annual leave in excess of 44 days is forfeited without pay on June 30 each year. 

Discretionary Leave

Two paid days of non-cumulative discretionary leave is awarded each fiscal year to all full-time employees (Faculty & Administrative staff). 

Sick Leave

The sick leave policy is established to assist you when you are unable to work due to illness, injury, or a medical condition. Full-time employees are awarded 15 days upon hire, then accrue 1.25 days per month beginning their 13th month of employment. Maximum sick leave accrual is 90 days. 

Bereavement Leave

Up to 40 hours of bereavement leave can be granted in the event of imminent death or death for immediate family members of employees. 

Family Medical Leave

Employees are eligible for FML if they have been employed at CMU for at least 12 months total. Eligible employees will be allotted up to 12 weeks because of the birth/adoption of a child, an employee's serious health condition or to care for a family member with a serious health condition. Additional time may be provided to employees to care for a covered service member. 

Jury Duty

Employees will be granted jury leave with pay for the period he/she is required to serve on jury duty. Compensation received for such services shall be retained by the employee. 

Military Leave

Upon presenting proper military orders, an employee who enters active military service, including active service training or declared emergency purposes, shall be granted fifteen (15) work days military leave with pay, less the paid military leave he/she has previously used during the calendar year, followed by military leave without pay. 

Annual Leave

Annual leave is used for personal needs such as vacation or personal business. Appointing authorities may establish periods when employees are not allowed to take leave. In some cases involving other types of leave (e.g. exhaustion of sick leave or family medical leave), use of annual leave may be required. 

Annual Leave accrual rates for Classified Staff:

Sick Leave

Sick leave is provided for health reasons. It may also be used for the health needs of a family member. Full-time employees accrue sick leave at 6.66 hours per month. Accrual is limited to 360 hours. 

Bereavement Leave

Employees may request up to 40 working hours of paid bereavement leave to attend services, travel or grieve the death of a family member or other person. Employees are expected to request the amount of leave needed in writing and communicate their needs to their supervisor. 

Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA)

Employees with 1 year of State service are eligible for up to 520 hours of family medical leave (pro-rated for part-time employees). The amount of paid or unpaid leave during family medical leave depends on an employee's accrued leave balances. Employees are required to use all accrued sick leave, to the extent allowed by the sick leave policy, and all accrued annual leave. 

Paid Family Medical Leave (PFML)

PFML provides permanent full-time employees up to 80 hours of paid leave (prorated for permanent part-time employees) per rolling 12 month period when employees are eligible and qualify for unpaid job protected leave under the Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA). 

Jury Duty

Classified employees are granted paid jury leave for the full time of service. Temporary employees are granted up to three days of paid jury leave to serve during those days they are normally scheduled to work. 

The Healthy Family Workplaces Act grants part-time, temporary and student employees at CMU who are not already covered by the Faculty, Administrative or Classified staff standard sick leave policy at a rate of 1 hour of sick leave for every 30 hours worked.

• This new policy does not affect full-time, benefit-eligible employees 
• Affected employees will earn roughly .034 hours of sick leave per hour worked
• Affected employees will be able to accrue a maximum of 48 hours of paid sick leave in a fiscal year.
• Employees may not use or accrue more than 48 hours of paid leave in a year, including leave which was carried over from the previous year.
• If paid sick leave is taken, the employees total hours within the week may not exceed the normal scheduled hours for the employee.
• Upon termination, resignation, retirement or other separation from employment, employees are not entitled to any financial reimbursement of unused sick leave. 
• If an employee is rehired within 6 months after the separation, the amount of accrued sick leave prior to separation is reinstated. 

How to submit a leave request

Salaried employees are expected to submit the use of paid sick leave using the Leave Request Form (above). The supervisor should sign and submit to Human Resources. 

Hourly employees should record the sick leave on their semi-monthly electronic timesheet. Should a supervisor need to verify a leave accrual balance, they may contact Human Resources. 

Student employee information may be found in the Student Employee Handbook or you may contact [email protected]. 

When should employees submit a leave request?

If the need for sick leave is foreseeable based on a planned medical treatment, the employee shall not give less than 30 calendar days' notice before the date of leave is scheduled or as practical if the date of treatment requires leave to begin in less than 30 calendar days. 

If the need for sick leave is not foreseeable, the employee must notify their direct supervisor or department head on or before the time the employee is expected to report to work. 

Employees may use accrued paid sick leave to be absent from work for the following purposes

• Mental or physical illness, injury, or health condition; needs a medical diagnosis, care, or treatment related to such illness, injury, condition; or needs to obtain preventative medical care;
• The employee needs to care for a family member who has a mental or physical illness, injury, or health condition; needs a medical diagnosis, care, or treatment related to such illness, injury, or condition; or needs to obtain preventive medical care'
• The employee or family member has been the victim of domestic abuse, sexual assault, or harassment and needs to be absent from work for purposes related to such crime; or
• A public official has ordered the closure of the school or place of care of the employee's child or of the employee's place of business due to a public health emergency, necessitating the employee's absence from work.

The Federal Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA) expired December 31, 2020. On January 1, 2021, the State of Colorado implemented the Public Health Emergency Leave (PHEL), that provides employees with a new leave balance of 80 hours (pro-rated for part-time employees) to use during the entirety of a public health emergency as declared by the Governor of Colorado. 

December 27, 2020 Executive Order

Employees who are unable to work or telework are eligible for PHEL up to their regular base rate of pay for the following public health emergency reasons: 

1. Needing to self-isolate because the employee is diagnosed or experiencing symptoms of the communicable illness
2. Seeking or obtaining medical diagnosis, care of treatment, preventative care, or care of such illness
3. Being exposed to, or experiencing symptoms of, such illness
4. Being unable to work due to a health condition that may increase susceptibility or risk of such illness
5. Caring for a child or other family member for reasons 1, 2, or 3 above, or whose school, child care provider, or other care provider is either unavailable, close of providing remote instruction due to the public health emergency
6. Close of the temporary employee's work location, and work cannot be performed remotely

COVID-19 Personnel and Procurement Information from Colorado Division of Human Resources