Executive Policy 9.240 Executive Policy 9.240

Responsibilities

General Provisions

1. Graduate Assistant supervisors will review and approve leave requests in the Online Leave System (OLS).
   
   
2. Earning of Sick Leave. 
   
   1. Graduate assistants shall be advanced sick leave at the beginning of each academic semester (Spring, Summer and Fall). Sick leave advances will be determined by the graduate assistant’s 9-month or 11-month appointment.
      
   2. All unused sick leave hours shall be forfeited at the end of the semester and upon the separation of the graduate assistant.
      
   3. The System Office of Human Resources shall publish a schedule showing the dates of each semester that sick leave will be advanced and forfeited in the Online Leave System and the number of hours of sick leave that will be advanced. A 9-month graduate assistant shall be advanced no more than 63 hours per year and a 11-month grad assistant shall be advanced no more than 77 hours per year, regardless of total FTE. Sick leave advances for graduate assistants with a 0.25 FTE appointment shall be prorated accordingly.
      
   4. Graduate assistants whose start of active employment is after the first day of each semester, including Summer, will have their sick leave advance prorated accordingly for the duration of the semester.
      
   5. When a graduate assistant renders less than a full semester of service, the sick leave advance shall be adjusted following the interruption of service and may result in the initiation of the salary and wage overpayment process. Graduate assistants’ sick leave allowance shall be reduced by a prorated amount:
      
      1. For the period of any sick leave granted when the employment terminates or is to terminate at the end of such leave;
         
      2. For any period of Leave Without Pay;
         
      3. For any period of unauthorized leave.
   6. A graduate assistant’s sick leave allowance shall remain unchanged for any period of paid wage loss replacement under workers' compensation.
   
   
3. Notification of Illness
   
   1. Through the OLS, notification of absence because of illness shall be given as soon as possible to the graduate assistant’s supervisor on or before the first day of absence, or if impracticable, as soon thereafter as circumstances permit.
      
   2. If the Supervisor does not acknowledge or approve the request, the graduate assistant shall notify the departmental Graduate Chair to appeal or approve the request for sick leave.
      
   
   
4. Application for Sick Leave
   
   1. A request for sick leave shall be submitted via the OLS within five (5) working days after return to duty for supervisor review and approval.
      
   2. The graduate assistant shall be required to submit a certificate from a licensed physician for absences of five (5) consecutive working days or more to substantiate the fact that the period of absence was due entirely to sickness and that the graduate assistant is now physically and mentally able to resume the duties of the position. The University may require the graduate assistant to be examined by a physician of the University's choice provided the University assumes the cost of the physician's services.
   
   
5. Sick Leave Charged Only for Regular On-Duty Days
   
   1. A regular on-duty day is synonymous with a regular State of Hawai‘i work day and does not include holidays and weekends.
      
   2. Graduate assistants shall submit a request for sick leave if they are absent from work due to sickness during any regular on-duty days, not to exceed twenty (20) hours per week.
      
   3. For graduate assistants on 9-month appointments, regular on-duty days occur during the period beginning with the first day of the semester in the fall and ending with the spring semester's commencement, including periods when classes are not scheduled.
      
   
   
6. Sick leave may be allowed for medical, dental, optical, and optometric examination appointments that the graduate assistant cannot schedule during non-duty time.
   
   
7. Bereavement Leave
   
   1. Graduate assistants shall be allowed three (3) working days of bereavement leave which shall not be deducted from any other leave to which the graduate assistant receives. Bereavement leave shall be granted on days requested by the graduate assistant, provided they fall within a reasonable period of time after a death in the immediate family.
   2. If the death or funeral occurs outside the State of Hawai‘i, a graduate assistant may request a reasonable number of additional days of leave without pay (LWOP). Additional days of LWOP may affect the graduate assistant’s eligibility for tuition waiver.
      
   3. Graduate assistants shall claim all bereavement leave through the OLS.