Professional Leave

Policy

All regular exempt employees shall be eligible to request and may be granted professional leave under the following conditions:

• This leave shall be consistent with the objectives and priorities of the College, and for such duration and for such purposes as are recommended by the President and approved by the Board.
• A regular exempt employee granted professional leave shall receive salary and benefits commensurate to those granted to the academic employees on professional leave and shall maintain his/her regular salary standings, plus any increments and other benefits that would have accrued during the period of professional leave.
• Upon return from the professional leave, the employee must serve in a professional status for a period commensurate with the amount of leave granted. If the employee fails to meet the obligation to serve the College for a period of time commensurate with the amount of the leave he/she is required to repay an amount equivalent to the salary received during the period of professional leave. College notice of separation, or employee death, shall not equate to failure to meet the obligation to serve.

An employee may request a professional leave of absence at any time. First consideration is given to those requests submitted on or before February 1 for professional leave during the subsequent fiscal year.

An employee may request a professional leave of absence for up to one year.

Considerations for approving a professional leave request include financial impact to the College, the College’s ability to meet its goals and objectives, and its ability to provide continued service in the absence of the employee.

Purpose

The purpose of this policy is to define and establish the terms and conditions for eligibility and use of a professional leave of absence.

To Whom Does This Policy Apply

This policy applies to all exempt employees, except the President of the College. This policy does not apply to academic employees, classified employees, part-time temporary employees, volunteers, or the President of the College.

References

None

Definitions

Professional Leave – leave granted for the purpose of providing the employee with an opportunity to improve, extend or renew his/her professional skills through a plan of study, research or creative work, and to provide needed and useful services to the College upon the employee’s return.

See College Policy – Definitions

Procedure

1. An employee shall first discuss the request for a professional leave with the immediate supervisor.
2. Following discussion with the supervisor, the employee must file a written request for a professional leave of absence to the President of the College detailing the purpose of the leave, begin date of the leave, and the date upon which the employee shall return from leave.
3. The employee must also submit a copy of the leave request to the employee’s supervisor, administrator, and executive staff member, if appropriate.
4. The President, at their discretion, will review the professional leave requests and determine which requests to recommend to the Board for approval.
5. The Board, at its discretion, will review the professional leave requests recommended for approval and determine which requests to approve.