Beginning Aug. 7, all Colorado State University employees will have two new ways to use their paid sick leave, thanks to a state law that went into effect in January 2021.

The two new reasons employees may use sick leave are:

• Bereavement, or financial/legal needs after a death of a family member.
• Due to inclement weather, power/heat/water loss, or other unexpected event, the employee must

• 1. evacuate their residence, or
  2. care for a family member whose school or place of care was closed.

About the HFWA

The new provisions are part of the Colorado Healthy Families and Workplaces Act, most of which went into effect on Jan. 1, 2021. It introduced paid sick leave for all employees not previously eligible under CSU’s leave policy, including student employees, non-student hourly employees, graduate assistants, or postdoctoral fellows, faculty and administrative professionals working less than half-time. The sick leave plans of those employees who were already accruing leave did not change.

The reasons that already existed for using sick leave include:

• Having a mental or physical illness, injury or health condition that prevents employee from working;
• Time off for preventive medical care, or to get a medical diagnosis, care, or treatment of a health condition;
• Caring for a family member with a health condition
• The employee or family member having been a victim of domestic abuse, sexual assault, or criminal harassment, and associated services (including medical attention, counseling, victim or legal services or relocation);
• Due to a public health emergency, a public official having closed either (A) the employee’s place of business or (B) the school or place of care of the employee’s child.

Accrual of sick leave

Sick leave is accrued at a rate of 1 hour for every 30 hours worked across all of an employee’s assignments. Hours worked are counted when payroll runs, so hours accrued during a bi-weekly pay period appear in TimeClock Plus and in Oracle reports in the week following the close of the pay period. Employees can view their leave balances in Oracle using the leave balances report available through Employee Self-Service.

Salaried employees and state classified hourly employees use the request calendar in TimeClock Plus to request leave and have it approved by their supervisors. For other employee groups (student, non-student hourly, and administrative professional hourly employees, as well as graduate assistants who also have bi-weekly student assignments), the employee must ask their supervisor to enter their sick leave for them in TimeClock Plus. A guide for creating Sick Leave segments for these employee groups is available on the HR website.

In addition, Colorado now provides partial paid family medical leave to eligible state classified employees. Contact the HR Service Center with any questions, at MyHR@colostate.edu.