This page contains general information about leaves of absence available to employees experiencing a medical condition themselves, caring for a family member with a medical condition, or who need to take time off due to an emergency or other personal reasons.
Please reach out to Human Resources. They can provide you with the information on and forms needed to begin the leave of absence process.
As long as you are eligible for leave under the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), and provide the necessary documentation for approval, you may take up to 12 weeks of leave per year, using a 12-month lookback from the date the leave begins. Please note that if the certification forms you return indicate that your leave is expected to last for fewer than 12 weeks, then additional documentation will be needed in order for Illinois Tech to approve the full 12 weeks.
You may apply for Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA) leave for use intermittently, meaning you intend to take the leave occasionally (e.g., to attend treatment or medical appointments, or due to flareups, related to a chronic medical condition). When taking time off intermittently under FMLA, you must follow the normal call-off procedure for your department. If your leave will follow a set schedule (e.g., time off each Monday afternoon for medical appointments), you may simply notify your supervisor of the schedule in advance.
As long as you meet all eligibility requirements for leave under the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), and provide complete and sufficient information and documentation to support your request, the leave cannot be denied.
As long as you are on an approved FMLA leave under the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), the leave will be job protected for up to 12 weeks each year, using a 12-month lookback from the date the leave begins. This means that individuals taking time off under FMLA must be restored to the same or an equivalent position. There are limited exceptions to this, such as the position would otherwise have been eliminated. However, you may not be terminated simply for taking FMLA leave.
For employees who are not eligible for leave under the FMLA, or whose leave does not qualify as FMLA leave, their leave will not be considered to be in a job protected status.
Employees may request personal leaves of absence. However, approval for such leaves is at the sole discretion of the university. If granted, such leaves are not considered to be in a job protected status.
Please note that this section pertains to staff leaves. Pay status for Faculty on leave is dependent on the type of leave. Additional information is outlined in the Faculty Handbook.
This is dependent upon the type of leave you are using. Staff may use accrued leave per Illinois Tech鈥檚 policies as is noted in the bullet points below, and if taking leave due to their own condition may qualify for Short Term Disability (STD) if the leave will last longer than seven calendar days. Please note that while STD benefits are paid through BCBS Ancillary, benefits eligible staff do not need to be covered under the Illinois Tech BCBS health plan in order to apply for STD.
- Staff taking leave to care for family members are able to use a limited amount of sick time each year to care for qualifying family members. Please refer to the sick time policy on our website for additional information. They may also use personal and/or vacation time, or take the leave as unpaid.
- Staff taking leave for maternity/paternity/adoption are eligible for ten (10) days of parental leave.
- Staff taking leave due to their own serious medical condition whose time off will be intermittent or will not exceed seven calendar days should first use their sick time. If the sick leave accrual has been exhausted, they may use personal and/or vacation time, or take the leave as unpaid.
- Staff taking leave due to their own serious medical condition and who must be off of work for more than seven calendar days may apply for STD benefits. If approved, STD will provide 60% income replacement up to a monthly maximum until you are cleared to return to work.
Please note that this section pertains to staff leaves. Faculty do not complete timesheets.
If you are out for more than one full pay period, your supervisor or their designee will be responsible for completing your timesheets. You MUST provide instructions on how timesheets should be completed BEFORE your leave begins.
Note that any time off covered using Short Term Disability (STD) benefits should be reflected as Unpaid on your Illinois Tech timesheet. STD benefits are paid directly by the insurance company, NOT by Illinois Tech.
The health, dental, vision, life and disability plans may be continued during Family and Medical Leave (FMLA), extended medical leave or personal leaves. The university will continue its employer contribution portion towards these plans if the employee is on an approved medical leave or FMLA leave, and the employee will receive an invoice for his/her portion of premiums during any unpaid leave period. The employee is sent an invoice and payment is required at the end of the month for the following month鈥檚 coverage. Failure to pay the required premium will result in cancellation of coverage with the employee eligible to reinstate coverage at the next Open Enrollment.
An employee is responsible for the full cost of coverage for all other types of plans and during all other types of leaves. The employee is sent an invoice and payment is required at the end of the month for the following month's coverage. Failure to pay the required premium will result in cancellation of coverage with employee eligible to reinstate coverage at the next Open Enrollment.
- Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA) policy
- Personal Leave policy
- Short Term Disability (STD), also referred to as Staff Salary Continuation
- Faculty Handbook
- Sick time policy
- Parental leave policy for staff