[Faculty Handbook Category #1]
Eligible faculty accrue job-protected, paid Earned Sick and Safe Time (ESST) under this policy to use for 1) their own medical needs and the medical needs of their family members, 2) their own safety needs and those of their family members in connection with being victims of stalking, or domestic assault/violence, and 3) other reasons outlined below.
Contact the Human Resources Department with any questions you have about ESST that aren’t addressed in this policy.
Eligibility and benefit year
All faculty performing or anticipated to perform at least 80 hours of work in Minnesota during the benefit year are eligible to accrue and use ESST under this policy. Our benefit year is the 12-month period starting on January 1st and running through December 31st.
Leave accrual and year-end
Faculty accrue one (1) hour of ESST time for every 30 hours they work, up to a total of 48 hours in our benefit year. Once employees have accrued 48 hours in our benefit year, further ESST accruals will stop until the start of the next benefit year.
80 hours is the maximum ESST balance that faculty may carry, which means that when employee ESST balances reach a cap of 80 hours, further accruals will stop until ESST time is used and the employee’s balance drops below 80 hours.
At year-end, faculty may carry up to 80 hours of unused ESST time into the next benefit year.
Reasons for which leave can be used
ESST may be used for the following reasons:
- Your own illness, injury, health condition, and preventive care
- A “family member’s” illness, injury, health condition, and preventive care
- Leave related to your needs or family member’s needs in connection with domestic violence, sexual assault, or stalking
- Time off needed to make arrangements for or attend funeral services or a memorial, or address financial or legal matters that arise after the death of a family member
- Closure of your work location or a family member’s school/place of care due to weather or public emergency
- Your inability to work/telework as a result of employer-imposed quarantine due to health concerns related to the potential transmission of a communicable illness related to a public emergency, or while awaiting diagnostic test results
- When a health authority or health care professional determines that you or family member’s presence in the community would jeopardize the health of others
Family members for whom ESST can be used include your:
- Child, foster child, adult child, legal ward, child for whom you are a legal guardian, or child to whom you stand or stood in loco parentis
- Spouse or registered domestic partner
- Sibling, stepsibling, or foster sibling
- Biological, adoptive, or foster parent, stepparent, or a person who stood in loco parentis to you when you were a minor child
- Grandchild, foster grandchild, or step-grandchild
- Grandparent or step-grandparent
- Child of your sibling (nieces/nephews)
- Sibling of your parents (aunts/uncles)
- Child-in-law or sibling-in-law
- Any of the family members listed above of your spouse or registered domestic partner
- Any other individual related by blood or whose close association with you is the equivalent of a family relationship
- Up to one individual per year not listed above whom you formally designate
Using ESST
There is no waiting period for ESST and it can be used as it accrues. However, you will not be allowed to use ESST prior to accruing it, which means that any time off taken in excess of your accrual balance will be considered unpaid time off.
Accrued time under this policy will be automatically applied to any ESST-covered time off from work that you may take. If you are absent from work for a reason that is covered by ESST and you do not want time under this policy to be used for the absence, you must promptly submit a written request stating that ESST time should not be applied. Absences for which ESST time is not used may be subject to discipline, even though the absence may be for an ESST-covered reason.
For foreseeable absences, you are generally required to provide at least seven (7) days of notice of your need for leave or as soon as practicable. For unforeseeable absences, you should notify your direct supervisors before the scheduled start of your workday if possible and follow the absence reporting procedures set forth in our Attendance and Punctuality policy. Your direct supervisor must also be contacted on each additional day of absence. Delayed notification to supervisors, or failure to follow proper reporting procedures, may result in disciplinary action.
ESST time can be used in minimum increments of 15 minutes. No employee will be required to find a replacement for the time you miss as a condition of using ESST; however, employees may voluntarily trade shifts if they choose to do so.
ESST is paid at your base pay rate at the time of absence. It does not include overtime or any special forms of compensation such as incentives, premium pay, commissions, or bonuses.
If your need for leave is greater than two (2) consecutive days for which you are scheduled to work, you may be required to provide documentation confirming the need for absence.
ESST time used under this policy and any of our other leave policies (e.g., FMLA, Parental Leave, etc.) will run concurrently under, and count against, both policies.
Termination/resignation of employment
Unused ESST will not be paid out upon the termination, resignation, or cessation of employment. However, faculty rehired within 180 days from their last date of employment will have their unused ESST balances reinstated, unless those balances were previously paid out at the time of separation.
Effective Date: 01/01/2024; updated 1/1/2026