UT Staff Absence Policy and Gender Issues Council of the Women’s Leadership Forum

Staff Absence Policy Applies to AFSCME and CWA workers For AFSCME employees, taking more than two hours of sick leave results in one “point.” 12 points leads to termination. If scheduled to work on a weekend, the employee gets two “points” if they are sick. For CWA employees, taking more than two hours of sick leave results in one “point.” 16 points leads to termination

Exemptions Employees with chronic health issues, or are caregivers for those with chronic issues, can request an exemption under FMLA As far as we have been able to determine, this exemption is only for chronic issues, not common illnesses

Policy Impact The WLF believes this policy, while applied equally to men and women, has gender implications Women are largely responsible for not only their own health care needs, but those of children, spouses, and aging parents Women’s health issues generally require more doctor visits and time away from work Women make up the vast majority of staff employees

Policy Impact Anecdotal evidence shows the burden placed on female employees Statistical evidence show impact is about the same between men and women based on percentages of employees facing disciplinary actions for excessive sick leave time, but women are approximately 75 percent of our staff

Policy Impact Policy can force employees to come to work sick rather than face losing their job. If patient care and student- centeredness are among our primary goals, we should not have in place a policy that encourages this. Policy is not family-friendly Decisions about when a sick child must stay home are often determined by daycare or school, not by parents. Therefore, it is especially burdensome for families with small children. Policy is not conducive to “improving the human condition” While students were given exemptions from class absence policy during H1N1 outbreak in 2010, staff were not. Policy remained in effect

Policy Impact Policy is uncommon among other public universities in Ohio. To date, we have not found another Ohio public university with such a policy in place. However some for-profit companies, including Wal-Mart, do have similar policies. Policy is out-of-touch with current human resource concepts, such as allowing employees to work at home when caring for sick children Policy can lead to the termination of employees for reasons unrelated to job performance

Policy Impact Policy reduces staff morale, a recognized key factor in successful organizations. It is not in keeping with our stated institutional goal of being recognized nationally as “a great place to work.” Policy increases stress among excellent employees who fear losing their jobs. Policy does not prohibit abusers from continuing sick leave abuse—they just have to complete an FMLA form. Additional paperwork required to implement policy costs money.

Policy Impact While some people abuse sick leave, this is a management issue to be addressed at the individual employee level, not by implementing a blanket policy that impacts all. The policy is not uniformly applied by supervisors, and it is not even uniformly understood.

View of the Women’s Leadership Forum No employee, male or female, should ever have to choose between caring for their own illness or losing their job. No employee, male or female, should ever have to choose between caring for their sick child and losing their job, especially when many depend upon their employment to provide health care for their family members. Policy may encourage desperate parents to leave sick children with those unable to provide adequate care.

Conclusion If we are an institution that has health care as a major component of our mission, why are we penalizing our own employees for being sick? Rather than a punitive one, we need an absence policy modeled on concerns of wellness, both for the employee and the public and students they serve.