Incidental Sick Time
Incidental Sick Time (IST) accrual
As a staff member, you are granted Incidental Sick Time on September 1 of each fiscal year (September 1 – August 31). A new staff member hired on or after September 1 is granted Incidental Sick Time as follows:
|
Fiscal Year |
Current Staff |
New Hires |
New Hires |
New Hires |
New Hires |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
2022-2023 |
15 days |
15 days |
10 days |
5 days |
2 days |
- Incidental Sick Time will be granted on each subsequent September 1 following the date of hire. If you are not in paid status on September 1, the sick time will be refreshed upon return to paid status based on the table above.
- If you are a part-time staff member, you receive the percentage of IST and EST proportionate to the percentage of full-time that you are scheduled to work.
Using IST
- Northwestern University may require satisfactory evidence for any paid Incidental Sick Time.
- Staff members may use IST when they suffer a personal illness or injury (including, but not limited to, physical and/or mental health issues -mental health day) or require medical care, treatment, diagnosis, or preventative medical care; a qualifying family member suffers an illness or injury or requires medical care, treatment, diagnosis, or preventative medical care; they or their family member is the victim of domestic or sexual violence; or their place of business is closed by order of a public official due to a public health emergency or they need to care for a child whose school or place of care is closed by order of a public health official due to a public health emergency.
- Visits to licensed/certified caregivers for treatment or checkups qualify for use of paid IST, and must be scheduled at a time least disruptive to department/unit operations and require advanced supervisory approval.
- Qualifying family members are defined as a spouse, domestic partner/civil union partner, child, stepchild, child of a civil union or domestic partner, parent, stepparent, grandparent, grandchild or sibling and those bearing the same relationship to the staff member’s spouse or domestic partner/civil union partner.
- Incidental Sick Time for exempt staff members is to be used in half- or whole day increments and recorded in the University-approved time entry system.
- Absence due to an injury on the job or occupational disease is not charged to IST or EST if it is approved as Workers’ Compensation. For more information, refer to Workers’ Compensation on page 6.9 of the Staff Handbook.
- There are specific circumstances when you may use up to your annual allowance of Incidental Sick Time consecutively. These are:
- If you are a staff member with less than six months of service and are unable to work due to your own illness (this includes birth of a child).
- If you are a staff member who has been approved for intermittent FMLA and need to be away from work.
- If you are a staff member who must care for a sick family member and be absent from work.
- Unauthorized or misuse of sick time is a basis for denial of sick time pay and subject to corrective action, up to and including termination of employment.
- Incidental Sick Time is renewed at the beginning of each fiscal year (September 1) and any unused IST at the end of the fiscal year (August 31) is forfeited.
Transfer and separation
- If you transfer to another staff position at Northwestern University, you and your supervisor should ensure that the University-approved time entry system is up-to-date and accruals are approved by your supervisor. If you transfer from one department/unit to another, you retain your sick time balance.
- When a staff member’s primary role is changed from staff to faculty, sick time will not be paid out upon transfer to the faculty status.
- On separation from the University, you will not be paid for accrued and unused sick time.