Entitlements and Conditions. All full-time professional staff members accrue sick leave with pay for continuous service at the rate of one and one-quarter days per calendar month from the date of initial employment. All part-time professional staff members in the bargaining unit accrue sick leave with pay for continuous service from the date of initial employment at the rate of one and one-quarter days per calendar month multiplied by the following fraction: the number of hours worked per week divided by 35. Earned sick leave is granted to a professional staff member who is incapacitated for duty. However, if a faculty member is unable to fulfill her/his obligations to the college for a period of time that encompasses the end of an academic semester, there shall be no charge to a sick leave balance for days following the date on which grades are due or the date on which the semester ends, whichever is sooner. An acceptable medical certificate is required to substantiate a request for sick leave in the following situations: any period of absence of more than five (5) consecutive working days; sick leave during annual vacation; leave of any duration if absence from duty recurs frequently or habitually, provided that the employee has been notified that a certificate will be required; leave of any duration when evidence indicates reasonable cause for requiring such a certificate. Sick leave shall be calculated in quarter-day units.
