Bi-Weekly Emergency

Eligibility

FLSA-non-exempt staff members who are paid, on average, at least 1,040 hours per fiscal year.

Notice and Uses

The College provides all eligible employees with Emergency Time, which may be used for certain medical or personal reasons, including, but not limited to, those listed in Section 4 of the Michigan Paid Medical Leave Act (MPMLA). Circumstances for which emergency leave time might be used include the following:

  • The employee’s personal illness, injury, health condition or preventative care;
  • The employee’s covered family member’s illness, injury, health condition or preventative care;
  • Reasons related to the employee’s or employee’s covered family member’s victimization by domestic violence or sexual assault;
  • The closure of Kalamazoo College or employee’s child’s school/place of care due to public health emergency;
  • Reasons related to communicable disease (as articulated in Section 4 of the MPMLA);
  • Death of a loved one for which the bereavement pay is not/no longer available;
  • Jury/witness duty;
  • Severe weather. Employees who are unable to return at the end of an official closing, due to severe weather, may use accumulated emergency leave time until their return to work.

For this policy, “covered family member” includes biological, adopted, or foster child, stepchild or legal ward, or a child to whom the eligible employee stand in loco parentis, a biological parent, foster parent, stepparent, or adoptive parent or a legal guardian of an eligible employee or an eligible employee’s spouse or an individual who stood in loco parentis when the eligible employee was a minor child, and individual to whom the eligible employee is legally married or to whom a domestic partnership exists, a grandparent, a grandchild, or a biological, foster, or adoptive sibling.

Recording Time Off

Employees are required to log emergency time in accordance with departmental practices, such as WebTime Entry or EMMA. Paycheck advices/checks show the amount of emergency time accrued.

Employee Responsibilities

To prevent unnecessary burden on co-workers or disruption to operations, employees must notify his/her/their direct supervisor of any need to take Emergency Time (including absence, late arrival, or early leaving). Employees must provide this notice to his/her/their supervisor as soon as practicable.

Employees must follow all College rules for calling into to report absences, tardiness, or leaving early, including compliance with departmental policy. Failure to comply with this policy may result in an employee being ineligible to utilize Emergency Time and may subject the employee to discipline under College policy.

If an eligible employee has been absent from work because of his/her/their own illness, injury, or health condition (as defined in the MPMLA) for a period of three (3) of working days, the College reserves the right to request documentation from a healthcare provider indicating that the eligible employee is able to return to work.

The College expressly reserves the right to require appropriate documentation, in compliance with the MPMLA, from the employee to ensure that the use of Emergency Time is in compliance with the uses outlined in this policy and the MPMLA. When the College requests documentation, the College will give the employee three (3) days to provide it.

Accrual

  • Upon hire or transfer into an eligible position, an eligible employee will accrue:
    • Full-time: Emergency leave time accumulates at the rate of 0.0462 hours for each hour paid, excluding overtime hours. This equates to roughly 12 working days in a 12 month period.
    • Part-time: Emergency leave time accumulates at the rate of 0.0462 hours for each hour paid, excluding overtime hours. The amount of time earned in a 12-month period will vary, depending on the amount of hours the eligible employee has worked.
  • Emergency Time is available to be used as it is earned.
  • Emergency Time is accrued on all hours up to 40 hours per week for which the employee is paid, except overtime hours, including hours worked, holidays, paid break days and emergency hours. Emergency leave time is not accrued on disability pay.
  • Payment for Emergency Time is computed at the eligible employee’s straight-time hourly or base rate.
  • Eligible employee may use Emergency Time in 15-minute increments.
  • Accumulated but unused Emergency Time may be carried over from one benefit year to the next benefit year (July 1- June 30). There is no cap on the amount of Emergency Time that may be carried over from benefit year to benefit year.

Granting Emergency Time

  • If an Emergency Time request is for a reason listed in Section 4 of the MPMLA, the College will grant the request, provided that: The employee has the amount of time available, the employee has complied with the responsibilities outlined in this policy, and the employee has not utilized more than forty (40) hours of Emergency Time in the current benefit year (July 1- June 30).
  • Once the employee has utilized forty (40) hours of Emergency Time in the current benefit year, all Emergency Time requests, regardless of the reason, are subject to approval by management, in consideration of business operations.
  • If an Emergency Time request is not for a reason listed in Section 4 of the MPMLA, the College will grant the planned or unplanned Emergency Time request as business operations permit, at its sole discretion.

Payout

Employees who retire from the College will be paid at their current rate of pay for one-half of the accumulated unused emergency leave time, up to 1,040 hours. [See the Termination of Employment policy for requirements] Other than for retirement, no payments will be made to employees for any unused accrual of Emergency Time while employees are employed, including upon termination of employment or transfer to an FLSA-exempt or non-Emergency Time eligible position at the College.


Approved by President’s Staff April 2019