Benefits Ineligible Semimonthly Paid Academic, Research, and Administrative Employees

Who can use the Application?

The application is provided for use only by semimonthly paid employees who are not eligible for sick leave under MIT’s policies (because they do not work enough hours or because their job isn’t eligible for benefits) yet are nonetheless entitled to earned sick time in accordance with the provisions of the Massachusetts sick leave law. Graduate students working at MIT are not eligible for this paid sick leave, nor are undergraduate students working during the academic year.

How are my accruals calculated?

Accruals are calculated based on 1 hour of sick time accrued for every 30 hours worked.

1. Full-time work (100% effort) is considered to be 40 hours per week for accrual purposes. Accruals are pro-rated for employees working at less than 100% effort.
2. Accrual periods initially start on the effective date of the new MA law (July 1, 2015) and they continue through to the end of your appointment date or to your anniversary date (the anniversary of your date of hire at MIT) whichever comes first. Subsequent accrual periods start on your next MIT anniversary date and run a full year or to the end of your appointment date, whichever comes first.
3. Your accrued sick time is calculated for the duration of your appointment. It is credited to your sick leave balance as of the beginning of your appointment and again on each successive anniversary date. Sick leave accruals are capped at 40 hours per year.
4. The annual sick leave accrual is calculated as follows:
   1. Hours worked per week are calculated by multiplying 40 hours (a full-time week) by your percent effort of work.
   2. Those hours per week are multiplied by the number of weeks in your appointment, or until your anniversary date, whichever comes first.
   3. The total number of hours worked over that period is divided by 30 in accordance to reflect the accrual of 1 hour of sick time earned for every 30 hours of work. The total is rounded up to the nearest whole hour
   4. Examples:
      1. Example 1: Employee 1 has a 40% appointment from September 1 through December 31. She is credited with 16 hours of work each week (40 hours X 40%) for 17.29 weeks. That total of 276.64 hours (16 X 17.29) is divided by 30 for 9.22 hours. This is rounded up to 10 hours, and those 10 hours are credited to Employee 1’s sick leave balance.
      2. Example 2: Employee 2 has a 30% appointment from September 1, 2015 through June 30, 2017. Employee 2 is credited with 12 hours of work for 52 weeks (till his anniversary date). That total of 624 hours is divided by 30 to arrive at 20.8 hours of sick time for the entire 12 month period. That total is rounded up to 21 hours and credited to employee 2 as of September 1, 2015. Note that the next crediting as of September 2016 will be based on 44 weeks to reflect the appointment end date of June 30, 2017.
      3. Example 3: Like Employee 2, Employee 3 works 30% time starting September 1, 2015 but for a 3 year term. If she takes no sick time, after about 2 years, she will have reached the maximum accrual of 40 hours. No additional hours accrue once she reaches that 40 hour cap. If after reaching the cap, she is sick and takes some of this earned sick time, however, her balance will go below 40 hours and she will then begin to accrue sick time again, up to the 40 hour cap.
5. Exempt staff are vested in their accrued sick time and may take paid sick time 90 days after they begin work at MIT. Employees who return to work after a break in service of less than 1 year are credited with time previously worked for vesting purposes. Sick time earned previously may be reinstated depending on the length of the break and previous balance. See MIT’s Earned Sick Leave Policy Section 4.3.22.2 for more information on reinstatement.

What are the reasons I can take sick leave?

You can use your accrued sick time for:

1. Your own illness, or your own medical or dental appointments
2. To care for a family member who is ill, or to take a family member to medical or dental appointments
3. For a leave relating to domestic violence

More detail about MIT’s policy on earned sick time for all staff is found at Personnel Policy Manual Section 4.3.22.

Note that a leave of absence relating to domestic violence may be up to 15 days in a 12 month period.  You may use any accrued sick leave (up to the annual maximum of 40 hours) in order to be paid during a domestic violence leave; any remaining leave time is unpaid.  If you wish to use your accrued sick leave for domestic violence that involves you, record it as your sick time; if the domestic violence involves a family member, record the use of sick time as family sick leave.  Detail on leaves of absence relating to domestic violence is found at Policies and Procedures Section 7.5.7.   

How do I report sick time?

Go to http://absence.mit.edu . You can also access the tracking tool through the link from Atlas.
o Note: Access to the tracking tool is Touchstone enabled and requires two-factor authentication with Duo.
• Select a day on the calendar by single clicking the day when you want to report sick time usage. A New Leave Request box appears on the right hand side of the page with a default of 8 hours of sick time. You can confirm or change the hours to reflect the sick time you want to report.
o If you work a standard, 5-day a week schedule, the tool presumes that you work 8 hours every work day.
o If you work an irregular schedule, you can record the actual hours you normally work on a given day. For example, a full-time employee working four 10 hour days and who is out sick for a day would record 10 hours for that day.
o If you are sick for less than a full day, report the time in quarter hours (.25, .50, .75, and 1.0).
 - For example, if you usually arrive at work at 8:30 but get in at 10:20 due to a medical appointment, record 1.75 as sick time.
• Select the Reason Category (Employee Sick or Medical Appointment or Family Sick or Medical Appointment).
• Sick time recorded will show on the calendar as “draft” until you hit “submit.”
• Continue to select additional days and edit hours in the same manner, as needed.
• You can delete draft days by either single clicking the day on the calendar or selecting the the delete icon listed beside the day.
• After your report has been completed, submit it using the blue button.

What happens after I submit a report?

• In the calendar, the requested day(s) will be labeled as “Sick”.
• You will receive an email confirming that you reported sick time usage.
• Your manager or a designated sick time administrator will receive an email notifying them of the reported sick time.

What happens if I report sick time but do not take it?

At any point prior to the reported day you can withdraw the day or entire report. If you need to withdraw a day in the past, please contact your HR Administrator.

How do I withdraw a sick day?

Withdraw a day by selecting it (single click) on the calendar. The associated Sick Report will then appear in a the Leave Request box. Within the Leave Request box, a delete icon is listed next to each day and a Withdraw Entire Report button is located at the top of the box. Use these buttons to withdraw future sick time that you already reported but that, in fact, you will not be using. Similarly, you can view all of your submitted reports by selecting the hamburger/list view on the right hand side above the calendar.

What if my balance in incorrect?

Please contact your HR Administrator.

How can I send feedback/questions about the Application?

Please submit feedback to absence-help@mit.edu

What is the MIT Sick Policy?

The policy for Mass. Earned Sick Time is found in the Personnel Policy Manual at Section 4.3.22 .