Using Sick Leave

Make Your Meetings More Active

Include items on your meeting agenda that require participants to get out of their seats (breakout groups, stand and write ideas on an easel).
Choose movement friendly meeting locations (walkable neighborhoods, on-site gym, nearby park).
Hire a professional instructor (pilates, yoga, tai chi, stretching, Zumba) to lead a class before or during the meeting.
Point out the stairs and encourage attendees to use them. Consider including the location of stairs in meeting directions or putting arrows to the stairs in front of elevators.
Organize a group walk early in the morning, during a break or before/after dinner.
Consider incorporating standing ovations after each speaker to encourage participants to stand and stretch.

At least once an hour, participants should be encouraged to stand up to improve blood circulation, boost metabolism, and relieve physical discomfort from sitting for prolonged periods of time.
Announce that it is fine to stand up and move around, as needed. If possible, provide raised tables for those electing to stand during the meeting.

Stretch breaks help participants wake up their bodies and minds.
Encourage people to stand up and stretch in place.
Try playing a Healthy UC Davis WakeBreak video! These instructor-led stretch videos range from 4 to 15 minutes.

Focused breathing is an energizing activity that can help relax and clear your mind. Simply inhale for four seconds, hold it for seven seconds, and exhale for eight seconds.

LENGTH OF MEETING	STANDING BREAK	STRETCH BREAKS	BREATHING BREAKS	MOVEMENT BREAKS	WALKING BREAKS
50 - 60 min	x		x
2 - 4 hours	x	x	x	x
All Day	x	x	x	x	x

University of California’s support of work-life balance includes providing access to paid sick leave and offering sick leave protections for all employees. 

Staff and student employees, including those in less than 50% FTE appointments, accrue sick leave when in sick-leave accruing titles. Accrual is based on hours on pay status. Review the Holiday and Leave Accrual Rates page for more details.
UC Davis Health employees who accrue PTO accrue Extended Sick Time. EST hours are used when a PTO accruing employee uses more than 24 hours of PTO for eligible sick leave purposes in one instance. The first 24 hours will be applied to PTO-S, and additional time will be considered Extended Sick Time.
Per diem appointments are granted 8 hours of sick leave each year and can roll over unused sick leave hours to a maximum of 16 sick leave hours in a year. The annual 8 hours are added to the sick leave bank on Jan. 1 of each year. For new Per Diem hires, the paid sick leave will be credited and available for use on the next working day following the employee’s first monthly or quadriweekly pay cycle.

Employees can designate up to 6 days per year of their sick leave as protected, prohibiting any form of retaliation or discrimination for its use (see definition on UCnet). Your protected paid sick leave balance is displayed in UCPath.
Employees are required to notify their supervisor that they are designating the requested sick leave as protected at the time it is requested.
Employees will enter the designated protected sick leave as “protected” on their timesheet for approval by their supervisor.
Protected sick leave is only a designation of existing accrued sick leave and not an additional bank of paid sick leave.

Employees can use paid sick leave for a broad range of situations refer to UC PPSM 2.210 Absence From Work or your Collective Bargaining Agreement for details on sick leave use.

Sick leave balances will be reinstated if an employee returns to UC employment within 12 months of separation, unless the balance was converted to UCRP retirement credit.

Learn more on UCnet including some key FAQs: