What is a leave of absence?

A leave of absence is time off from work or duty that has been approved by Human Resources. At PROVAIL, if an employee plans to be away from work for 10 days or more, they should ask for a leave of absence.

Here are some examples of reasons for a leave of absence:

• Medical Leave: When the employee, their spouse, or dependent has a serious medical condition.
• Pregnancy, Adoption, Foster, or Baby Bonding.
• Military Service: For instance, if an employee is called to active duty.
• Military Family Leave: For example, if an employee needs to care for dependents while their spouse is deployed.
• Personal Leave: For instance, if an employee takes time off to focus on obtaining a degree.
• Worker’s Compensation: When an employee is injured on the job.

Are leaves of absence paid?

You can use your accrued time off (like sick, vacation, or personal holiday) for different types of leave, such as for your own medical needs, taking care of family members with serious health issues, or during military service. However, there are certain types of time off, like sick leave, that you might not be able to use for a personal leave of absence. If you’re not sure, contact Human Resources for clarification.

Continuous vs. Intermittent Leave of Absence

• Continuous – leave taken in a single block of time.

For example, Caroline is taking 12 weeks of maternity leave after the birth of her new baby. She will be on leave from February 1 until April 21.

• Intermittent –  ‘a few days here and a few days there’ while the employee continues to work.

For example, Joseph sprained his ankle and he needs to take Tuesday and Friday afternoons off every week for the next six weeks to attend physical therapy.

In UKG, this is referred to as leave frequency.

Contact hr@provail.org if you would like to request leave. More information coming soon!

Vacation: Vacation benefits are given so employees take a break and relax from work. If you’re a regular full or part-time employee scheduled to work at least 20 hours per week, you earn vacation time with each pay period based on the hours you’ve actually worked. (Note: Overtime hours don’t count towards accruing vacation time.) The rate at which you earn vacation depends on how long you’ve been continuously employed at PROVAIL. You can find more details about employee classifications in the PROVAIL Employee Handbook.

Personal Holiday: Every regular full and part-time employee who is scheduled to work at least 20 hours per week gets a Personal Holiday instead of paid federal holidays. This allows staff to use these holidays for cultural observations and personal activities that matter to them personally. Eligible employees receive Personal Holiday hours every quarter, and you can find more information about how this is awarded in the PROVAIL Employee Handbook.

Paid Sick Time: 

PROVAIL offers paid sick leave for times when you need to be away temporarily. You can use sick leave benefits in various situations, such as:

1. If you or your child is sick or injured.
2. To care for your spouse, registered domestic partner, parent, parent-in-law, grandparent, grandchild, or sibling with a serious health condition or emergency.
3. To take leave if you are a victim of domestic violence, sexual assault, or stalking, or if a family member is a victim.
4. To take leave when your family member’s school or care place is closed.
5. To take leave when your workplace has reduced operations or is closed for health or safety reasons.

The rate of accrual depends on the number of hours an employee works and how long they have been at PROVAIL. Detailed information about sick time accrual is available in the PROVAIL Employee Handbook.

Options When You Have Exhausted Your Accrued PTO

PROVAIL provides paid leave options for employees facing a tough situation and have used up all of their accrued time off (sick, vacation, and personal holiday) . 

• Emergency Sick Leave: For employees who are currently experiencing a catastrophic medical condition as defined as a life-threatening or serious illness or disability requiring continuing treatment or a period of hospitalization as certified by a medical care provider and which requires continuous absence from work of 10 days or more. Eligible employees may receive up to 5 days (40 hours) of paid sick leave.
• Shared Leave Pool: For employees experiencing a catastrophic medical hardship that causes a severe impact to them resulting in a need for additional time off in excess of their available paid time off benefits. Recipients of sick pay donations must also show documentation to HR that they are not eligible for Washington Paid Family Medical Leave. If there is an available pool of sick leave donations, an employee may receive up to 240 hours per year. 

Detailed information about Emergency Sick Leave and the Shared Leave Pool is available in the PROVAIL Employee Handbook. Contact Human Resources for more information.