In March 2020, at the onset of the pandemic, the university acted quickly to implement temporary COVID-19-related leave options to ensure all eligible employees had access to sick leave benefits should the need arise. These options were made available to best support employees through the unprecedented time.
Earlier this month, the State of Illinois moved to Phase 5 of its Restore Illinois plan, an important milestone in its response to the pandemic. This was also a necessary step to reaching our goal of returning to more normal operating procedures. As a result, effective July 1, 2021, all existing NIU Board of Trustees policies, regulations, rules and authority governing the use of accumulative sick leave benefits will be reinstated, and accumulative sick leave benefits will be administered in accordance with university policies and procedures.
Beginning July 1, accumulative sick leave can be utilized if an employee or their immediate family member is ill or injured or is obtaining medical or dental consultation or treatment or if they have tested positive for COVID-19, have symptoms of COVID-19 and are seeking a diagnosis, or have been recommended or ordered to quarantine for exposure to COVID-19.
Employees represented by a union are encouraged to refer to their collective bargaining agreement regarding use of paid benefits as these agreements will take precedence on the use of accumulative sick leave benefits. Copies of the collective bargaining agreements are available on the Human Resources website. Please contact your union representative with questions.
While we are returning to practices that were in place prior to the onset of the pandemic, leave options and accommodations remain available and more information can be found on the Human Resources website.
Questions about this update should be directed to payroll@niu.edu. Thank you for your service to the NIU community.
