Leaves of Absence

You are entitled to either:

• One three-hour unpaid leave of absence per calendar year to donate blood at an off-premises location
• Paid leaves two times a year to donate blood at your place of employment

You are usually expected to report for duty in your department whenever your attendance for court or jury purposes is not required.

Talk with your supervisor working your regular non-day shift if you have already devoted a full day to jury duty. You may be granted leave with pay for the scheduled shift and the supervisor may reschedule you to the day shift for the duration of jury service.

You may not:

• Be granted compensatory time off in lieu of ordered appearances and jury duty attendance on a pass day, a Saturday, Sunday or holiday
• Use jury service leave for a court case when you are party to the action

You should expect to  provide satisfactory documentation of each day of jury service from the court.  

Your specific benefits are determined by your union contract. Contact the benefits expert to explore your options.

You should expect to provide documentation for this leave.

You should expect to provide documentation about your military assignment.

If you are a temporary and probationary employee without permanent status, you are entitled to leave with or without full pay. You are not eligible for leave, however,  beyond that date when your employment would otherwise terminate. 

Child-rearing leave is available to adoptive or foster parents in the same way as child-rearing after delivery.

Your absences during pregnancy and following childbirth may be charged to vacation, personal, sick or holiday leave.

While a doctor’s certificate may be required for any period of disability, Human Resources will request detailed medical documentation whenever disability is claimed during the period from four weeks prior to delivery through six weeks after delivery. All medical documentation should be sent directly to Human Resources:

State Benefits
120 Crofts Hall    
North Campus
University at Buffalo
Buffalo, NY 14260

Employees who are eligible for the Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA) should apply for FMLA.  

All employees, regardless of sex, are entitled to leave without pay for child rearing for up to seven months following the date of delivery.  

During child rearing leave, you are permitted, upon request, to use annual leave before being granted leave without pay. The university does not require that you exhaust all leave credits prior to being granted leave without pay for child care. Sick leave may be used only during a period of medical disability.

Any leave of absence beyond the seventh month after childbirth is at the discretion of your department, except in the case of continuing medical disability. If you had requested a leave for child care of less than seven months you may request to have the leave extended up to the seven month maximum.  

If both parents are state employees, child rearing leave is granted for one parent at a time. Parents may elect to split the mandatory seven month leave into two separate blocks of leave with each parent using one continuous period of leave but not exceeding a combined total of seven months of leave and not extending beyond seven months from the date of delivery. 

Talk with the Human Resouces benefits expert about other arrangements for shared leave, including concurrent leave. 

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.

You are eligible for sabbatical leave if you:

• Are an academic employee
• Have a continuing appointment 
• Have completed at least six consecutive years of service within UB 
• Have completed at least six consecutive years of service within UB from the date of return from a previous sabbatical leave

Consecutive years of service for the purpose calculating eligibility include:

• Periods of vacation leave 
• Periods of sick leave with salary 

Excluded from eligibility are:

• Periods of leaves of absence, other than paid vacation and sick leave
• Periods of part-time service  (which count towards consecutive service)

You may be granted sabbatical leave for one of two periods: 

• one year at a rate not exceeding one-half basic annual salary 
• one-half year at a rate not exceeding full basic annual salary 

You can not accrue or use vacation or sick leave credits during sabbatical leave.

During sabbatical leave, you may, with the prior approval of the president, accept fellowships, grants-in-aid or earned income to assist in accomplishing the purposes of your leave. The president may adjust your sabbatical leave salary to reflect additional income. In no case, however, will sabbatical leave salary be reduced if your total earnings are less than full salary.

Apply for sabbatical leave to your chair, dean or provost as far in advance as possible of the start date of the leave. Unless expressly waived by the university president, apply no later than six months in advance. 

Include in your application:

• A statement outlining the program to be followed while on sabbatical leave
• Any prospective income
• Your expectation to continue as an academic employee for a minimum of one year upon your return 
• That you  will submit to the chair, dean or provost, on your return, a detailed report of your professional activities and accomplishments while on sabbatical leave

The president approves sabbatical leave requests that meet eligibility requirements and reports them to the chancellor.