Leaves and Accommodations

This section provides information regarding leave benefits and eligibility for academic employees.  If you are an academic employee inquiring about your own upcoming leave, please contact your Academic Leave Specialist in HR Shared Services, whom you can find listed via the following link: Find Your HR Representative Search. 

Health Sciences Compensation Plan (HSCP) Participants should also consult their Department/ORU compensation plan for leave eligibility and benefit information.

Represented academic personnel should also consult their current contract for leave eligibility and benefit information.

Family and Medical / Special Leaves / Accommodations

Health Sciences Compensation Plan (HSCP) Participants and other academic appointees may be eligible to take a variety of types of leave, including but not limited to bereavement leave, childbearing/childrearing leave, medical and/or extended illness leave, care for a family member, and military leave.  Leaves may be paid or unpaid and may run concurrently with the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), Pregnancy Disability Leave (PDL) and/or the California Family Rights Act (CFRA).

HSCP Participants should consult their Department/ORU compensation plan for information on their leave benefits and eligibility. Represented academic employees should consult their collective bargaining agreement.

All University employees are eligible for consideration of reasonable accommodations which may allow continuance of work on a part-time or full-time basis. Leave of absence may also be considered a reasonable accommodation

Whom to Contact for Assistance

If you are an academic employee inquiring about:

  • Your own upcoming leave of absence, please contact your Academic Leave Specialist in HR Shared Services,
  • Workplace accommodations, please contact Disability Management Services (DMS) at (415) 476-2621. 

You may find your HR Academic Leave and DMS Specialists via the  Find Your HR Representative Search.

Summary of HSCP leave benefits

  • Childbearing Leave:
    Childbearing leave is provided for a Plan Participant who holds a 12-month appointment and bears a child or children, regardless of academic series or months of service.
     
  • Childrearing Leave:
    Paid childrearing leave is provided for a Plan Participant who holds a 12-month appointment and is the non-birth parent responsible for caring for any child or children who are, or become, a member of the Plan Participant’s family.
     
  • Parental Leave Without Pay:
    Plan Participants are eligible for full-time or part-time parental leave without pay for up to 12 months to care for a child. 
     
  • Extended Illness Leave:
    Extended illness is defined as a health condition resulting in an absence from work for more than two weeks. Plan Participants who are appointed full-time to at least a twelve-month term and who are unable to work for reasons of extended personal illness, injury or disability (as certified by their medical provider) shall be granted paid medical leave.
     
  • Other Paid Leave to Care for a Family Member:
    Paid leave at full salary (X+ X’+Y) will be granted when a Plan Participant is unable to work because s/he must care for a spouse, domestic partner, child or parent who is ill.
     
  • Other Leaves with Pay:
    In accordance with the Academic Personnel Manual, leaves of absence with pay may occasionally be approved for good cause (for example, during military service or for brief periods of governmental service).

    Visit the UCSF Family-Friendly Policies page for more information on childbearing, childrearing, and parental leave without pay benefits and eligibility, refer to your department/ORU compensation plan, and/or contact your Academic Leave Specialist who may be found here: Find Your HR Representative Search. 

Pay for Family Care and Bonding (PFCB) program

Reasonable Accommodations

The University provides reasonable accommodation to otherwise qualified academic appointees who are disabled or become disabled and need assistance to perform the essential functions of their positions. Accommodation options will be considered in an interactive process with the appointee.

For more details review:

Resources

UCSF Family-Friendly Policies
COVID-19 Paid Leave Provisions (requires PeopleConnect manager access)
Guidance Regarding COVID-19 Related Leaves for Academic Appointees

UC System-Wide Policies

APM 710: Sick Leave/Medical Leave
APM 711: Reasonable Accommodations for Academic Appointees with Disabilities
APM 715: Family and Medical Leave
APM 750: Leave for Service to Governmental Agencies
APM 751: Military Leave
APM 759: Other Leaves Without Pay
APM 760: Family Accommodations for Childbearing and Childrearing

Forms

Academic Leave  (Sabbatical / Professional Development)

Academic leave is granted to enable Health Science Compensation Plan (HSCP) Participants to engage in intensive programs of research and/or study, thus to become more effective teachers and scholars and to enhance their services to the University.

An HSCP Participant who is eligible for sabbatical or professional development leave will be compensated during the leave at a rate that is at a minimum equal to the Plan Participants covered compensation (X+X’). Additional compensation may be granted from the same or similar sources as those providing negotiated compensation prior to the period of leave (i.e., Plan Participants may not accept salary directly from another institution while on sabbatical), but any salary above covered compensation shall be limited by the availability of extramural, clinical or other discretionary funds. Total salary during sabbatical leave or professional development leave from all sources may not exceed the Plan Participant’s total salary prior to the leave. 

Plan Participants remain members of the Compensation Plan and subject to all of its requirements while on sabbatical leave, including, but not limited to, those pertaining to outside professional activity and income, intellectual property, and conflict of commitment.

Please refer to your department/ORU compensation plan for specific leave benefits and eligibility requirements and contact your Department Manager and/or Academic HR for more information.

Eligible Faculty Series Type of Leave
Ladder Rank Sabbatical Leave
In Residence, Clinical X Professional Development Leave
Adjunct, HS Clinical Professional Development Leave

Policies and Procedures

Forms

Catastrophic Leave

The Catastrophic Leave Sharing Program permits temporary salary and benefits continuation for eligible employees who have exhausted all paid leave when an employee experiences a catastrophic illness or injury; an employee is needed to care for a family or household member who experiences a catastrophic illness or injury; or when an employee experiences a catastrophic event.  Eligible UCSF Campus and Health employees, including eligible faculty members and non-faculty academics, may participate in the leave sharing program.

Policies and Procedures

Forms

APM 759 LWOP Requests for the Purpose of Innovation and Entrepreneurship Activities
APM 710 – Expansion of Paid Sick Leave

*Information current as of December 11, 2024. Please note that information may change.