Sick, Vacation, and Holiday Leave

Sick leave is accrued after a month of qualifying service (11 days for salaried employees and 160 hours for hourly employees). All employees are eligible for sick leave except for the following:

• Student Assistants
• Graduate Assistants
• Special Pay
• Retired Annuitants (Except FERPS)

Back to Top

Full-time employees accrue eight hours of sick leave after each qualifying month of service. The amount earned is pro-rated based on an employee’s status (full-time, part-time). There is no limit to the amount of sick leave that may be accrued. Unused sick leave may be converted into service credit at retirement in accordance with CalPERS guidelines.

Back to Top

When employees leave university employment, sick leave is not paid out. For those who are retiring, any unused sick leave is converted to service credit for purposes of calculating retirement benefits, in accordance with CalPERS guidelines.

Employees who return to State employment, in a position that allows for sick leave accruals, within six months following a separation shall be credited with the sick leave balance from the previous position.

Pursuant to the CBA, upon request, a faculty unit employee returning to CSU employment within ten months following a separation shall be credited with sick leave balance from the previous position. This provision shall not apply if the employee is appointed to a classification in which sick leave is not accrue.

Back to Top

To be eligible to use sick leave‚ an employee must be in active employment status, and:

• Accruals cannot be used in the same month in which they are earned. For example, the accrual you earn in January may not be used until February.
• Employees in exempt classifications are not required to report absences of less than one regularly scheduled work day.
• Sick leave can be used to care for ill or injured “immediate” family members within the following maximums each calendar year

For more information regarding sick leave, please refer to the appropriate Collective Bargaining Agreement and /or Technical Letters.​

Back to Top

Unit 1

​Illness or injury in the immediate family; and sick leave for family care is primarily for emergency situations. Up to five (5) days of accrued sick leave credit may be used for family care during any one (1) calendar year.

Units 2, 5, 7, 9

Sick leave for family care is primarily for emergency situations. Up to ten (10) days of accrued sick leave credit may be used for family care during any one (1) calendar year. The appropriate administrator may authorize an additional five (5) days of accrued sick leave credit for family care during one (1) calendar year.

Unit 3

Sick leave for family care is primarily for emergency situations. Up to forty (40) hours of accrued sick leave credit may be used for family care during any one (1) calendar year.

Unit 4

Sick leave for family care is primarily for emergency situations. Up to five (5) days of accrued sick leave credit may be used for family care during any one (1) calendar year. The appropriate administrator may authorize the use of additional sick leave for family care.

Unit 6

Sick leave for family care, as defined in 18.10, is primarily for emergency situations. Up to seven (7) days of accrued sick leave credit may be used for family care during any one (1) calendar year. The appropriate administrator may authorize the use of additional sick leave for family care upon request by an employee. Upon mutual agreement between the employee and appropriate administrator, an employee may use more than seven (7) days of sick leave for Family Care and Medical Leave as provided in Article 19.

Unit 8

Up to five (5) days of accrued sick leave credit may be used for family care during any one calendar year.

Back to Top