To acknowledge challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Office of the President recently approved two temporary blanket exceptions to Academic Personnel Manual (APM) Section 710 (APM - 710), Leaves of Absence/Sick Leave/Medical Leave. These will provide relief to academic appointees who are having to balance work and childcare responsibilities.
First, Provost Brown approved a temporary exception to APM - 710-20 to allow academic appointees who accrue sick leave to use any such accrued sick leave if they are unable to work or telework because their children are not able to physically attend school or place of care because of COVID-19 precautions in the Fall 2020 semester/quarter. Note that we have side letters providing this exception to eligible academic appointees in the UAW-represented PX (postdocs) and RA (academic researchers: professional research, project scientists, and specialists) units and the AFT-represented LX (librarian) units. This exception is effective immediately and will remain in effect through December 31, 2020. All other provisions of APM – 710, including eligibility criteria, remain in effect.
Second, in September, 2020, Provost Brown approved a temporary exception to APM - 710-11 to allow faculty who do not accrue sick leave to use any available paid medical leave allotment in the Fall 2020 quarter/semester if they were unable to work (or telework) because their children were not able to physically attend their school or place of care because of COVID-19 precautions in Fall 2020. Under this temporary APM – 710-11 exception, use of paid medical leave are permitted for up to one course reduction for childcare-related reasons. Note that on October 7, 2020, Provost Brown issued the following approval to the two semester-based campuses, Merced and Berkeley: The use of this policy exception can be deferred to Spring Semester 2021, given that instruction began in August. This change in effective date for Merced and Berkeley will avoid disruptions to teaching, and potentially be more useful to faculty seeking relief. This exception applies to Senate faculty only, and it may NOT be used during Fall 2020.
If any faculty member requests to use APM 710 for childcare in Spring semester, the Schools must work closely with APO to determine how much time this represents for the purposes of decrementing APM 710. This exception will be effective January 1, 2021, through May 18, 2021.
The temporary exceptions to APM - 710-20 and APM - 710-11 do not affect eligibility for Emergency Paid Sick Leave (EPSL) or Emergency Family and Medical Leave (EFML) granted under the Families First Coronavirus Relief Act (FFCRA) or Expanded Paid Administrative Leave (EPAL) provided by University policy. EPSL, EFML, and EPAL may be taken before or after any accrued sick leave or paid medical leave is used or exhausted.
Process to request paid medical leave (APM 710) for childcare:
After consultation with the department chair and dean, the academic appointee works with the school to complete the new Leave of Absence Request form – Paid Medical Leave (APM 710) for Childcare
- School works with APO to determine percentage portion for decrementing APM 710 for Senate faculty
- School routes completed form to Esmeralda Martinez <emartinez35@ucmerced.edu> in APO for further processing
- APO will work on obtaining approval from Vice Provost for Academic Personnel
- APO will send email approval notification for paid medical leave for childcare
Please send any questions you may have to academicpersonnel@ucmerced.edu.
