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The Leave of Absence (LOA) policy is available to provide a time off benefit for an employee to receive an unpaid or paid approved leave of absence for specific qualifying reasons.
The different leave of absence types include:
1. Medical-Related
a. Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) Leave
b. Non-FMLA Medical Leave
c. Extended Leave
2. Military-Related
a. Employee Military Leave
b. FMLA Qualifying Exigency Leave
c. FMLA Caregiver Leave
3. Personal Leave
4. Domestic Violence Leave
5. Employee Injury / Illness (Workers’ Compensation)
6. Administrative Leaves
All employees must refer to the AdventHealth Leave of Absence policy (800.216) for the most current information. All LOAs are managed by the AdventHealth Leave of Absence department; however, please contact the AHU Office of Human Resources with any questions.
AdventHealth Leave of Absence
Email: FH.HR.LOA@AdventHealth.com
Phone: (407) 200-2580
12.1 Professional Leave
Faculty may wish to return to full-time practice in their profession in order to renew their skills and/or update their professional practice. Requests for leave from teaching responsibilities must be made to the Provost well in advance of the desired experience and will be granted only when it is deemed in the best interest of the faculty, students, and the University. Generally, no salary or expense considerations will be made when such requests are granted. A specified length of time must be part of the request.
12.2 Sabbatical Leave
AHU Administration recognizes the need for faculty to participate in scholarly activities. Faculty need to have the time for research, publication, and presentations. Sabbatical leaves allow faculty concentrated time to engage in these activities.
Criteria
Qualifications
Full-time assistant-, associate-, or professor-level faculty who have completed six years of fulltime employment as a faculty member at AHU, and who are already engaged in scholarly activities which will be continued or completed during the sabbatical leave are eligible. Faculty will be eligible for a Sabbatical every seven years.
Length of Sabbatical
One trimester of full-time sabbatical, or two trimesters of half-time sabbatical with half-time campus assignments.
Purpose of Sabbatical
The pursuit of scholarly activities, such as research, publication, and presentation. These activities must show benefit to both the faculty member and the University. They must be activities for which the faculty member has been adequately prepared.
Pay/Benefits for Sabbatical
Full-time pay and benefits will continue during the sabbatical. Funds for the leave must be included in the approved departmental budget for the year in which the sabbatical is taken.
Limits
The number of faculty who may be approved for a sabbatical will be determined by administration on an annual basis. Approval by an academic department will also be based on the ability of the department to find adequate departmental/teaching coverage.
Procedure
Application
The faculty member must submit a Sabbatical Leave Application form and a Letter of Intent to the Office of Academic Administration. The Sabbatical Leave Application form must be submitted by August 1, and the Letter of Intent by September 30, of the academic year prior to the sabbatical leave. Signatures from the Department Chair and Human Resources department must be obtained prior to submission to the office of Academic Administration. The office of Academic Administration acknowledges receipt of the application form and sends copies to the department chair, faculty member, and office of human resources.
The letter of intent must include an outline of the proposed scope of activities during the sabbatical including: a curriculum vitae, a draft research proposal, travel plans, a list of collaborators, if any, and any other information that supports the proposed sabbatical leave activity. .
Approval
The sabbatical leave letter of intent must be submitted to the Provost and will be reviewed by the Sabbatical Leave Committee composed of one faculty member, the Vice-President of Academic Administration, and the Provost. This committee will make its recommendations to the University President for final approval following the evaluation of set criteria. Written notification of final approval granting sabbatical leave will be given by February 1st of the academic year prior to the leave. (See Appendix L - Sabbatical Leave Application .)
Report
Within a trimester after the sabbatical has been completed, the faculty member must disseminate accomplishments of his or her sabbatical work by:
- oral presentation
- the submission of evidence to an appropriate venue
- peer-reviewed publication
Return and Length of Stay
The faculty member must agree in writing to return to AHU following the sabbatical leave. The faculty member must be fully employed at AHU for two academic years following the completion of the sabbatical leave or he/she must fully repay the cost of the leave to the University. The cost of leave is equivalent to the total salary and benefits paid for the length of sabbatical leave.
Repayment of Leave Costs
The cost of the sabbatical leave must be repaid if the following conditions occur:
- The faculty member fails to complete the sabbatical leave requirements.
- The faculty member does not complete a full year of full-time employment at ADU after the Sabbatical.
- The faculty member is terminated by the University for disciplinary reasons. (See Faculty Handbook Sec.23.1.)
Service Record
Time spent on sabbatical leave will count as full-time service to the institution. It will have no negative impact on promotion or retirement vesting.
12.3 Personal Leave
Employees must complete one year of continuous, uninterrupted, employment to be eligible for a personal leave of absence. If your position is eliminated due to reorganization, facility closure, reduction in force, or other business reasons during your personal leave, you will be notified of this action and are subject to dismissal from employment.
Occasionally, situations may arise in which an employee needs to take time off for serious personal matters. Reasons for personal leave may be granted for the following reasons, including but not limited to, the death of a family member or close friend or for other serious unexpected situations that would preclude working as scheduled.
Employees in good standing may apply for a personal leave granted in 30-day increments up to a maximum period of 90 days in a “rolling” 12-month period with department Director pre-approval every 30 days. We reserve the right to ask for documentation or certification of reason for request.
You are not guaranteed reinstatement from personal leave. However, AdventHealth University or Human Resources will attempt to reinstate you to your former position or an alternate position for which you are qualified before the expiration of your leave. If you do not request reinstatement before expiration of your personal leave, or if no positions are available, or you reject the first position offered by the University, you will be dismissed from employment. If you are dismissed under this policy, you are eligible to apply for future employment.
All benefits will be discontinued during a leave. Coverage under the Employee Health Care Plan may be continued if the employee pays the full premium. Proper arrangements regarding premiums must be made with Benefits Service Center prior to the leave of absence. If you fail to pay any Employee Healthcare Plan premium during your personal leave, you will be dropped from coverage as of the date on which the premium was due, and you may be required to re-qualify for health coverage if you are reinstated to employment.
12.4 Bereavement
A period of bereavement time may be arranged for those who have experienced the recent loss of a spouse, father, mother, child, sibling, step or in-law equivalents, grandparents, granchildren or in some cases, other significant family members.
Requests for funeral/bereavement leave are submitted to the faculty member’s direct leader. The employee must provide appropriate documentation (obituary notice, death certificate, etc.) to Human Resources as soon as practical. The documentation will be filed in the employee’s personnel file. No provision is made to cover travel costs associated with a funeral leave.
12.5 Attendance at Professional Meetings
Faculty members are encouraged to actively participate in professional associations and societies. Each year, as part of the budget approval process, the departmental budget will provide reimbursement for faculty to do so. Faculty will submit for approval a travel authorization form with all estimated expenses to their department heads prior to the event. Approved travel will be reimbursed after the expenses have been incurred and only subsequent to filing an expense report with appropriate documentation.
12.6 Jury Duty
Employees who are called to serve on jury duty will notify their Department Chair so that arrangements may be made to cover their responsibilities.
Employees may retain the standard jury fee even though they are paid their regular, full salary by AHU.
12.7 Voting
Reasonable time will be permitted to vote in local, state, and federal elections if, due to work schedule and commuting distance, it is impossible or very inconvenient for the employee to vote either before or after working hours. Arrangements should be made with the appropriate Department Chair or Director.
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