Per the UC San Diego PPM 230-10 Academic Leave Policy, "An academic appointee is considered to be on a leave of absence any time they take a leave from normal duties during the prescribed periods of service.   Academic appointees who leave the campus prior to obtaining formal approval are in violation of university policy." 

Please see the chart below for general types of leaves by category and consult the campus and systemwide leaves policies and MOUs for more detailed information about eligibility.

*Accommodations that do not involve leave time are not listed on this chart because they are not considered leaves. See below for more information on accommodations.

Effective July 1, 2021, the University issued a substantive revision to the Academic Personnel Manual (APM) - 700 Series policies related to Academic Leaves.  Key policy revisions include the following:

• Removal of gendered language. 

• Increased paid childbearing leave, APM - 760 , Family Accommodations for Childbearing and Childrearing. 

• New Pay for Family Care and Bonding Pay (PFCB) option in APM - 715, Leaves of Absence/Family and Medical Leave, and APM - 760, Family Accommodations for Childbearing and Childrearing, providing an additional pay option for block leave taken in minimum one workweek increments for family and medical leave (FML) qualifying reasons. 

• Changes to APM - 715, Leave of Absence/Family and Medical Leave, to comply with SB 1383 expansions to the California Family Rights Act (CFRA). 

• Changes in approval authority for leave for service to governmental agencies in APM - 750, Leaves of Absence/Leaves for Service to Governmental Agencies, to align with APM - 758, Leave of Absence/Other Leaves with Pay. 

• Addition of bereavement and jury duty leave sections to APM - 758, Leaves of Absence/Other Leaves with Pay. 

• Removal of child age requirements for Active Service-Modified Duties eligibility criteria in APM - 760, Family Accommodations for Childbearing and Childrearing. 

To access the full suite of revised APM - 700 Series policies and accompanying issuance letter click here. 

To access an implementation toolkit for the above and related APM - 700 Series revisions, including PFCB, click here.

Leave accruals are sick time or vacation hours earned, contingent on appointment series and percentage.  Faculty and academic appointees who accrue sick or vacation leave may use it according to policy.  Many types of academic leave allow for the use of earned accruals to provide compensation during leaves that might have otherwise been taken as unpaid. See policy for details.

Academic appointees who do not accrue sick or vacation time may have other paid leave provisions governed by academic policy or their Collective Bargaining Agreements. To view sick and vacation leave accruals by series, please visit Leave Accruals by Series.

An accommodation is any measure put into place by the University of California in order to assist faculty and other academic appointees with balancing essential job duties and personal health.  Some accommodations are leaves, such as childbearing and parental bonding leave. A formal accommodation that involves modified duties is often the result of the interactive process.

An interactive process is often initiated when an academic appointee with a new or existing disability seeks to work out an arrangement for accommodating their disability with the appointee's department.  The DisAbility Counseling and Consulting Office can be contacted with inquiries.  Suitable accommodations are determined on a case-by-case basis.   

Some examples of accommodations that are not leaves and the paperwork or actions they require to initiate:

• Any duties modification created by an interactive process with DisAbility Counseling & Consulting (DCC) that does not involve a reduction in percentage of time. Any accommodation negotiated during an interactive-process is initiated with Disability Counseling and Consulting Office guidance and designated paperwork.
• Any duties modification related to pregnancy disability, initiated by a conversation with the department chair, that does not involve a reduction in percentage of time. Internal department paperwork, as appropriate, may be required by the chair. (PPM 230-15)
• An Active Service-Modified Duties accommodation, per policy, that does not result in a reduction in percentage of time. Such requests require FAR form processing. (PPM 230-15)
•  Change in Work Location, as referenced in PPM 230-10, that is a period of 60 days or less in which an academic appointee performs all of his or her normal duties from a remote location to facilitate conference attendance or because research and/or teaching activities require his or her absence from campus during the service period. This accommodation must be taken during a non-teaching quarter, and is most often taken in service to the university. None of an appointee’s duties while on Change in Work Location may be reassigned. Changes in Work Location require an ALAS and a memo from the candidate endorsed by the chair and approved by the dean. (PPM 230-10)
• A Flexible Workload agreement as defined by the Family Accommodations Policy requires a memo from the candidate and an MOU. (PPM 230-15)
• A Family Accommodations policy-related extension of the probationary period or request for deferral of academic review for an Assistant Rank appointee. These require FAR form processing. (PPM 230-15)

Aside from FML and other protected leaves, which frequently arise without substantive notice (though require a minimum of 30 days advance application when possible (PPM 230-15 III.A)), it is generally best practice to apply for leaves of one quarter or more at least one quarter in advance.

Leaves that require Executive Vice Chancellor or Chancellor's approval due to duration, Category I Prior Approval requirements, or exception to policy requests may take longer to process and must be submitted, at a minimum, one quarter previous to the date the leave is projected to take place. 

For research-related leaves or leaves that can be anticipated and planned in advance, best practices would be to ensure department chairs or academic divisions receive between one quarter and one academic year's advance consultation.

Contact your department chair or your unit's Academic Personnel contact for preferred department protocols.

For information regarding COVID-19 related UC Emergency Paid Leave  (EPAL)* and Families First Coronavirus Relief Act (FFCRA) Emergency Paid Sick Leave (EPSL)^ and Expanded Family and Medical Leave (EFML), as it relates to academic appointees, please visit the FAQ on COVID-19 Leave Options and Remote Work Provisions page.

Protected leave usually means a type of leave that protects designated employee benefits and rights.   See below for information regarding the most common types of protected leaves, which include those that may be protected by the federal Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), California Pregnancy Disability Leave (PDL), and/or the California Family Rights Act (CFRA).  

Please note UCOP updated the University’s Family and Medical Leave (FML) forms  in March of 2021 to reflect the changes to the California Family Rights Act (CFRA) that were effective January 1, 2021.  The new forms are available online here.  

Regarding FMLA, From the Department of Labor:

"The Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) provides eligible employees up to 12 workweeks of unpaid leave a year, and requires group health benefits to be maintained during the leave as if employees continued to work instead of taking leave. Employees are also entitled to return to their same or an equivalent job at the end of their FMLA leave.

The FMLA also provides certain military family leave entitlements. Eligible employees may take FMLA leave for specified reasons related to certain military deployments of their family members. Additionally, they may take up to 26 weeks of FMLA leave in a single 12-month period to care for a covered servicemen with a serious injury or illness."

Please see the Department of Labor FMLA Guidance pages for more detailed information on eligible leave types and terms and the University of California FMLA fact sheet for additional resources and employer-paid benefits coverage details.  Please also see academic policies detailed below for more guidelines regarding the implementation of FMLA for academic appointees.

Regarding PDL, from the State of California Department of Fair Employment and Housing

Visit this resource for more information about an employee's rights and obligations as a pregnant employee. 

Regarding FMLA, PDL, and CFRA

FMLA benefits will be used concurrently with CFRA benefits whenever guidelines for eligible leavetaking match or PDL is not taken with FMLA.  In the instances where PDL and FMLA are used together, an appointee's eligibility under CFRA can entail additional weeks of benefits coverage.  In instances where CFRA guidelines are more expansive than FMLA guidelines (e.g. eligible caretaking for children of any age not covered by FMLA, grandchildren, grandparents, or siblings) and CFRA is taken independently, more FMLA leave time may be available for employee leave use for FMLA eligible circumstances.

For information regarding terms and benefits of these state and federal laws, please visit the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing's  Family Care and Medical Leave: Quick Reference Guide and the Leave for Pregnancy Disability and Child Bonding: Quick Reference Guide.

Protected Leaves - FML/FMLA/CFRA/PDL

The academic leave types that can fall under protected leave categorization (provided the employee is eligible per guidelines) are as follows.  

* For these guidelines, please visit the Faculty Compensation website on Pulse. Your UC San Diego Active Directory login is required.

Research Related Leaves  

Other Leaves

Required Paperwork for Requests: 

• Family Accommodation leaves (and family accommodations, in general—Childbearing Leave, Parental Bonding Leave, Family Leave (without pay), Active Service Modified Duties (ASMD), Probationary Period Extensions, Deferral Stand-alone requests, etc.) require the FAR form to process up through the designated approval authority or certifier of leaves reported (same individual).  Those that request ASMD are accompanied by a memo indicating plans for who will teach the course/courses for which instructor replacement funding has been requested.
• Any leaves with that may involve FMLA/CFRA will require university FMLA/CFRA paperwork. This is kept at the departmental level. Short sick leaves of less than three days, which do not qualify for FMLA, still require chair's approval and sick leave forfeiture where accrued. 
• Personal illness leaves (Paid Medical Leave, for example) need an ALAS form and supporting documentation indicating length of leave necessary from a doctor or medical practitioner.
• All leaves with medical components that require absence or reduction in percent time for disability-related reasons will require a readiness to return to work certification.
• Research leaves beyond chair’s approval (Sabbatical, Leave in Lieu of Sabbatical, Leaves to Attend a Professional Meeting, Extended Leave, etc.) require an ALAS form and supporting documentation.

Local Policy Guidance:

The UC San Diego Policy and Procedure Manual (PPM) is the local reference for academic leave policy for unrepresented appointees. The two local leaves policies for UC San Diego non-represented faculty and academic appointees who are not members of the Health Sciences Compensation Plan (HSCP) are  the PPM 230-10  Academic Leave Policy and the PPM 230-15 Family Accommodations  policy.

HSCP members will consult the APM 670 and the HSCP Local Implementation Guidelines and the Executive Summary of Revisions to HSCP Implementation Guidelines: Faculty Leave Benefits, which are available on the the Faculty Compensation website on Pulse.  

For leaves requested by represented faculty and academic appointees, refer systemwide Memorandums of Understanding (MOUs) for policy information.

Collective Bargaining Agreements for Academic Appointees by Series:

• Academic Researchers — RA
  United Auto Workers (UAW) 5810
• Academic Student Employees — BX
  AGSE/United Auto Workers (UAW)
• Professional Librarians — LX
  American Federation of Teachers (AFT)
• Non-Senate Instructional (Lecturers) — IX
  American Federation of Teachers (AFT)
• Postdoctoral Scholars — PX
  United Auto Workers (UAW)

For appointees with Collective Bargaining Agreements, these resources may also help:

• Labor News
• Bargaining Units
• Collective Bargaining FAQ

Systemwide Academic Policy

The Academic Personnel Manual (APM) is the systemwide reference for academic policy.  In general, the terms in the systemwide manual are relevant to any leave for which differing local policy, implementation guidelines (for HSCP participants) or collective bargaining agreements (for represented appointees) have not been created. The APM 700 Series policies are those regarding academic leaves. Policies for certain leaves of absence are as follows:

a. Sick leave (APM - 710)
b. Family and medical leave (APM - 715)
c. Holidays (APM - 720)
d. Vacation (APM - 730)
e. Sabbatical leave (APM - 740)
f. Leave for service to governmental agencies (APM - 750)
g. Military leave (APM - 751)
h. Leave to attend professional meetings or other University business
(APM - 752)
i. Other leaves with pay (APM - 758)
j. Other leaves without pay (APM - 759)
k. Family accommodations for childbearing and childrearing (APM - 760)

Other References and Programs:

For the UCOP links to systemwide UC Family Friendly Policies, click here (link).

Though a program rather than an academic leave policy, additionally, appointees in vacation-accruing titles who have passed the requisite vacation usage waiting period may also be eligible to participate as donors or recipients of vacation pay under the UC San Diego's Catastrophic Leave Donation Program.   See program page for details.

Fact Sheets (Online Brochures):

Disability Benefits for Faculty Fact Sheet

Family Changes Fact Sheet

Pregnancy, Newborn Child, and Adopted Child Fact Sheet

Family and Medical Leave Fact Sheet

Leave without Pay Fact Sheet

UCRP Service Credit Purchase Guide (service credit buyback)

Road Maps (Benefits, Policy, and Timing Guidance): 

Applying for Disability

Going on Military Leave

Taking a Furlough

Taking a Leave of Absence

Taking Paid Leave

Taking a Sabbatical | UC Net

Disability benefits through Lincoln Financial or other sources provide income to replace lost wages. In general, disability benefits are applied for either when academic leave and accommodations policies do not provide more generous paid terms, when an employee has inadequate accruals or wishes to preserve as many of them as possible, or when paid leave policy provisions have been used to their maximum availability/duration. For information about the University's select enrollment disability programs, please visit Your Disability Benefits on Blink, which is a full resource page with links to all relevant documentation and programs.

IMPORTANT NOTES FOR ACADEMIC APPOINTEES:

1. Filing for disability benefits cannot be done when there is no loss in pay (e.g there is a paid leave provision or selected use of accruals that does not result in loss of pay).
2. Disability payments cannot be augmented by accrued leave usage except when claims are connected to Worker's Comp.
3. The paperwork filed for requesting paid disability benefits does not take the place of approved academic leave paperwork (e.g. ALAS/FAR, etc).
4. A disabled appointee's request/s for job accommodations to remain in active service is done via the Interactive Process at Disability Counseling and Consulting and is separate from the process of requesting wage replacement.
5. It is advised that those appointees who expect their disability may span more than a year consult with Disability Counseling and Consulting.
6. FMLA documentation must be completed and submitted to an appointee's department or unit for any leave request that falls under the criteria for Family and Medical Leave.