7.5 Absences
A. Paid Absences
Each calendar year, Clinician Educators receive a lump sum of 24 hours of paid sick time that they may use pursuant to the Paid Sick Leave Law. They may use this sick time for themselves or a family member for absences due to illness; for preventive care or diagnoses, care, or treatment of an existing health condition; or for specified purposes related to domestic violence, sexual assault, or stalking. This sick time does not carry over from one calendar year to the next. In addition to notifying the department chair or supervisor of the need to take sick leave, the employee should notify Payroll through a HelpSU request. If the need for sick time use is unforeseeable, the employee should provide notice of the need for sick time use as soon as practicable.
Instructors are eligible for time off with pay from regular service that can be scheduled throughout the year with departmental approval. Time off with pay may be granted up to 22 days per year, pro-rated for the Instructor’s percent time of appointment and start date. Time off with pay is available at the beginning of the calendar year and may not be carried forward from year to year. Pay in lieu of time off is not possible. The department chair must approve such exceptions, in advance. Time off with pay has no cash value, and is not paid out in any fashion at the time that employment ends.
Instructors eligible for Stanford University employee benefits are eligible for paid conference leave that may be taken for the purpose of attending professional development conferences or for participating in similar professional development opportunities.
Paid conference leave is not automatic and must be applied for and approved by the department in advance. Instructors with regular clinical responsibilities should work with their service chiefs and department chairs to assure adequate coverage of their clinical services while they are on paid conference leave.
Instructors are entitled to time off due to disability. If an Instructor is disabled, he/she is expected to file for short-term disability benefits. Salary will be reduced by the amount of disability benefit for the first 90 days of disability. After 90 days, the Instructor is eligible to apply for long term disability benefits and the leave of absence may continue as leave without pay. See Administrative Guide Memo 2.3.5 at https://adminguide.stanford.edu/chapter-2/subchapter-3/policy-2-3-5 for additional information on leave of absence, including disability leave. Questions should be directed to University Human Resources, Disability and Leave Services.
5. Additional Assistance for Professional Development
Instructors may have two categories of professional development assistance available to them, as follows:
STAP (Staff Training Assistance Program) funds of up to a certain amount per year may be used for job-related training. For instance, they may be used to pay registration fees for conferences.
STRP (Staff Tuition Reimbursement Program) funds of up to a certain amount per year may be used for undergraduate or graduate degree programs.
These funds are pro-rated based on FTE. Further information about these programs may be found on the Education Assistance Programs website http://hreap.stanford.edu/.
B. Unpaid Absences
During an unpaid absence an Instructor does not receive pay from the University. Administrative Guide Memo 2.1.8.2 describes several types of leave of absence without salary and addresses benefits continuation during an unpaid leave of absence. An Instructor may be placed on personal leave without pay at a department's discretion and with advance approval from the Office of Academic Affairs. Consideration will be given to the type of absence, the impact on programmatic need, and whether the absence is to be partial or complete, and the duration of the absence; approval of an absence exceeding 12 months should be rare. An unpaid leave of absence must be for a definite period with specific starting and ending dates and cannot extend beyond the end of a fixed-term appointment. Additional policies for Leaves of Absence appear in Administrative Guide Memos 2.1.8.3 and 2.1.8.4. .
