Leaves


MedLeave


ON THIS PAGE


Pro tip

The Faculty Leave Data Security Attestation Form is required for all leaves (including FMLA, disability, and other leaves handled by the Benefits administrators). For leaves processed by OAA, please submit the attestation with the leave request. For leaves processed by Benefits, the form should be signed and retained in the department's records.

You will find the Faculty Leave Data Attestation Form in the Letters, Templates, & Forms section of the Other Faculty Affairs Resources page. 

Helpful Policies: Leaves for the Professoriate

Chapter 3 in the University Faculty Handbook contains the Stanford University policies governing leaves and sabbaticals. This page contains some useful excerpts.

Limitations on Leaves

It is University policy to place limitations on the granting of leaves. When considering a faculty member’s leave request, the department Chair and school Dean should determine whether the following two limitations have been satisfied:

Overall Limit on Leave

The total time spent on leaves of any kind normally should not exceed six quarters in seven years for faculty with nine month appointments or 24 months in seven years for faculty with 12 month appointments. (To determine this limit, count back seven years from the end date of a proposed leave. In this calculation, partial leaves will be prorated.)

Limit on Contiguous Absence

In addition, leaves of any kind, or combinations of leaves, may not exceed 24 contiguous months for faculty with 12 month appointments or two consecutive academic years for faculty with 9 month appointments, irrespective of percent time off duty.

Retirement

Leaves may not be taken during the academic year immediately preceding retirement.

Short Absences

Short absences for personal business, illness, jury duty, military duty, and similarly limited absences normally are with full salary.  It is expected that when scheduling periods of personal time off, one’s academic responsibilities are taken into consideration and continue to be fulfilled.  The department chair or supervisor should be notified in advance of any absence that may affect class, laboratory, research, clinical activities or other University commitments.

Appointments at Other Institutions

A faculty member on leave without salary may not take a regular faculty or administrative position at another institution of higher education. However, faculty on leave without salary may accept a visiting professor appointment at another educational institution.

Effect on an Appointment for a Term of Years

A leave without salary extends a term appointment held by a member of the Professoriate, irrespective of faculty line, by a period equal to the duration of the leave, unless there is advanced written agreement to the contrary. This extension is not automatic; it must be requested by the department and school.

Effect on the Tenure Clock and Appointment Clock Deadlines

A leave without salary taken by an untenured Tenure Line faculty member also extends their seven year tenure clock. It does not extend the ten year appointment clock deadline.

Additional policy information can be found on Chapter 3 in the University Faculty Handbook


HELPFUL POLICIES: Leaves for Clinician Educators

Chapter 3.6 of the School of Medicine Faculty Handbook contains the policies governing leaves and Professional Development Leave for Clinician Educators. Below are some additional useful details.

Professional Development Leave (PDL)

To be eligible to take PDL, the faculty member must

  • have the rank of Clinical Assistant Professor, Clinical Associate Professor, or Clinical Professor;
  • be eligible for University benefits, that is appointed at 50% FTE or more for six months or longer;
  • have provided at least five year of benefits-eligible service in one of the three ranks eligible for the Program;
  • have sufficient accrual for the proposed leave duration;
  • propose a leave activity consistent with the intent of the Program;
  • comply with all Program policies and procedures, including the provisions applicable to principal investigators and the Practice Policy.

PDL Accrual

The normal maximum accrual is 98 days (14 weeks- reached after five years of full time service, longer if accruing on a part-time basis) at which time a Clinician Educator is encouraged to apply for leave and their department/division are encouraged to make leave possible. If programmatic need requires that the leave be deferred for programmatic reasons, accrual continues until the leave is taken, but no more than 140 days (20 weeks) in total may be accrued.

Leave Rate

Two factors are involved in calculating accrual use. The first is leave duration, calculated from leave start date to leave end date (the day preceding the return to work date) using a 30 day month. If part of the month is on duty and part of the month is on leave, accrual is earned for the on duty portion and accrual is used for the leave portion. The second factor is the percent of leave salary, 1 whole day for each 100% FTE leave salary day and pro-rated if the percent is 50% to 99%. University holidays are not factored into the leave use calculation.

Limit on Leave

The maximum leave taken at one time is 70 days (10 weeks) and minimum amount of time to be taken at any one time is 14 days (2 weeks), but the Clinician Educator need not use the entirety of their accrual at one time. Unused accrual is retained for future use.

The Clinician Educator is expected to be completely relieved of duty for each day of leave. Exceptions require prior approval by the Vice Dean.

Overall Limit on Leave

Unless otherwise required by law, total time spent on leaves of any kind should not exceed 24 months in a five-year period (to determine this limit, count back five years from the end date of a proposed leave in this calculation, partial leaves will be prorated).  Total leave time that will exceed 24 months require the prior approval of the Department Chair and Dean’s Office.

Return to Service

The leave is expected to be a continuous series of days. The Clinician Educator is expected to return to duty for at least six months after the leave -- leave taken immediately before a resignation is inconsistent with the intent of the Program.

Interval Between Leaves

There is normally an interval of 90 days (3 months) in between. If the leave activity requires an interrupted series of leaves preventing compliance with the interval between leaves provision, the entire plan must be disclosed on the application form.

Leave Salary

Professional Development Leave salary is base salary only, calculated at the Clinician Educator’s current percent time of appointment. However, if the Clinician Educator’s FTE has varied during the five year accrual period, the rate of leave pay is at their current appointment FTE or at the average of their three years’ appointment FTE preceding the leave, whichever is greater.

Unpaid leaves

During an unpaid absence a Clinician Educator or Instructor does not receive pay from the University.  Administrative Guide Section 2.1.8, Miscellaneous Authorized Absences covers various types of leave from the University.  Section 2.1.8.2 describes several types of leave of absence without salary and addresses benefits continuation during an unpaid leave of absence.  

A Clinician Educator may be placed on personal leave without pay at a department's discretion and with advance approval from the Office of Academic Affairs.  Consideration will be given to the type of absence, the impact on programmatic need, and whether the absence is to be partial or complete, and the duration of the absence; approval of an absence exceeding 12 months should be rare.  

An unpaid leave of absence must be for a definite period with specific starting and ending dates and cannot extend beyond the end of a fixed-term appointment.  General policies for Leaves of Absence appear in Administrative Guide Section 2.1.8.3.


PROCESSES: For the Professoriate

SABBATICAL

  1. Faculty member must discuss leave plans with the division chief or department chair.
  2. Faculty and department Faculty affairs staff can determine how much leave eligibility the faculty member has accrued by visiting MedLeave and clicking the "Check Accrual" button.
  3. Faculty Member or Leave administrator can initiate the Sabbatical request through MedLeave 
  4. Once completed, re-reviewed, and approved by the faculty member, the request will automatically be forwarded to the DFA, if applicable to RMG group and division chief, lastly the application will notify the Departmant Chair, or designee for final departmental approval. 
  5. Before issuing a final approval, the Office of Academic Affairs will obtain the consent of Faculty Compensation, and any other administrative units as necessary.

**Note: Requests will be reviewed within 60 days of receipt. Late submissions will typically be denied.   

 

Accrual and Use

Faculty members accrue sabbatical at 2.5 days per month for full time effort (see the University Handbook for further information), and use sabbatical at 30 days per month at 100% FTE.  Faculty may take sabbatical at a reduced FTE, which will cause them to receive salary and to use sabbatical at a similarly reduced rate (for example, "50% sabbatical" = 50% base + variable pay, and uses 15 days per month).  However, no matter the rate of pay, faculty are always expected to be completely relieved from all clinical, teaching, and administrative duties for the part of their FTE that is committed to sabbatical.

Sabbatical eligibility stops during a period of no service-- time spent on leave without salary, a leave for short term disability, family and medical leave, long term disability, periods of pure research, and full-time non-teaching service are normally excluded in calculating sabbatical eligibility.  

Sabbaticals must be at least one month (30 days) in duration and can normally be no longer than one year (360 days) in duration and at a minimum of 50% FTE.

The Office of Academic Affairs maintains a record of sabbatical accrual and use for all Professoriate members. 

Administrative Supplement

Administrative duties, and any corresponding administrative supplement, are automatically discontinued during sabbatical unless an exception to policy is requested by the department.  If the exception is granted by the Vice Dean, the administrative supplement must be paid by the department; it may not be charged to the sabbatical account.


PROCESSES: For the Clinician Educator

PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT LEAVE (PDL)

  1. Faculty member must discuss leave plans with the division chief or department chair.
  2. Faculty and department Faculty affairs staff can determine how much leave eligibility the faculty member has accrued by visiting MedLeave and clicking the "Check Accrual" button.
  3. Faculty Member or leave administrator can initiate the PDL request through MedLeave
  4. Once completed, re-reviewed, and approved by the faculty member, the request will automatically be forwarded to the DFA, if applicable to RMG group and division chief, lastly the application will notify the Departmant Chair, or designee for final departmental approval. 
  5. Before issuing a final approval, the Office of Academic Affairs will obtain the consent of Faculty Compensation, and any other administrative units as necessary.
  6. At the conclusion of the leave, the controllers group will reimburse the leave to the designated PTA.

**Note: Requests will be reviewed within 60 days of receipt. Late submissions will typically be denied.  

 

ESTIMATING PDL ACCRUAL

If the Clinician Educator was eligible for the PDL Program on July 1, 2004, their eligibility started on that date. Otherwise, accrual starts on the date on which the Clinician Educator first became eligible for the Program—that is, was appointed as a Clinical Assistant Professor, Clinical Associate Professor, or Clinical Professor, in a benefits eligible position (appointed at 50% FTE or more for 6 months or longer).

Only service provided while eligible for the Program counts. Service as a Clinical Instructor or as a Clinician Educator (Affiliated) does not count, nor does service in an eligible rank at less than 50% FTE. Accrual stops during a period of no service (a leave for short term disability, family and medical leave, long term disability, professional development leave, for example).

Leave accrual is calculated using a 30 day month and at the appointment FTE for that month. If the appointment FTE is 100%, the individual accrues 1.167 days of leave per month. If the appointment FTE is 50% - 99% FTE leave accrues on a pro rata basis.


Process: Requesting Changes to Submitted Leave Forms

Any changes to dates, FTE, or purpose of the leave must be reviewed and approved by OAA in a timely manner. 
 
  1. Faculty member must discuss proposed changes with division chief or department chair.. 
  2. Submit the following via email to som-leaves@stanford.edu. A Transmittal Memo including a very detailed explanation of the requested changes to the leave. Obtain your department chair's signature and, if applicable, your division chief’s signature, to acknowledge and approve all aspects of the requested change to the leave. If necessary, consult the University Handbook for policies and information on sabbaticals and other leaves for Professoriate, the Professional Development Leave Program Statement (PDF)and the School of Medicine Handbook for policies and information on leaves for clinician educators and instructors. 
  3. Before issuing a final approval, the Office of Academic Affairs will obtain the consent of Faculty Compensation and any other administrative units as necessary.

UNPAID LEAVES - PROCESSES: For the Professoriate (LWOS) and for Clinician Educators and Instructors (LOA)

  1. Faculty member must discuss leave plans with the division chief or department chair.
  2. Faculty Member or leave administrator can initiate the PDL request through MedLeave.
  3. Before issuing a final approval, the Office of Academic Affairs will obtain the consent of Faculty Compensation and any other administrative units as necessary.
  4. If the leave is approved by the Vice Dean, workflow should be initiated to place the Clinician Educator or Instructor on leave during the effective pay period(s). Departments must notify OAA, Faculty Compensation, and HR when the Clinician Educator or Instructor returns from leave.

**Note: The leave request form must be submitted to OAA at least 30 days prior to the start of the leave. Late submissions will typically be denied. 

 

Family + Medical Leave

All faculty members should be advised to contact their Human Resources representative to discuss Family and Medical Leaves, which are administered through HR and Benefits, not through Academic Affairs.