What is ESTA?
ESTA, the Earned Sick Time Act, is a new state law which has recently taken effect. The law requires employers to provide at least a certain minimum amount of paid sick time. It also contains some requirements about how the required sick time must be handled.
Will ESTA result in more sick time for UM employees?
Generally, no. The minimum is one hour of paid sick time per 30 hours worked, up to 72 hours per year. This is less than the 120 hours of short-term sick leave already provided for full-time non-hospital staff or the PTO provided for non-bargained-for hospital staff (which also counts). Some temps, or regular staff working less than half-time, may wind up with more sick time than before under ESTA.
What can time off be used for?
ESTA has caused the University to slightly broaden the list of acceptable reasons for taking short-term sick leave. The new reason is “for meetings at a child’s school or place of care when the meeting is related to the child’s health or disability.”
What other protections come from ESTA?
You cannot be disciplined for taking the time off provided under ESTA, but you can be disciplined if you don’t provide the proper notice for your time off. The law limits how strict the notice requirements can be:
- For a foreseeable absence, you can be required to give up to 7 days notice.
- For an unforeseeable absence, you can be required to give notice as soon as it’s practical, according to a policy that has been communicated to you. The policy has to allow you to give notice after you become aware that you will need the time off.
- Beginning with three consecutive days of leave, you can be required to provide documentation.
These protections only apply to “ESTA time.” Because U-M staff have more paid sick leave (or PTO) than ESTA requires, not all paid sick leave counts as ESTA time. ESTA time will be tracked separately. Time reported as “STE” will draw from both your ESTA bank and your short-sick bank, so in general you should continue to report time as SCK (sick, preventative), SKF (sick, family care), or SCL (sick, illness/injury) unless you need the additional ESTA protections.
Why does my department have a new time off policy?
ESTA requires that your employer communicate to you the policy for providing notice of your sick time or PTO. Because some schools, colleges, departments, etc. have not had written policies in the past, they are now creating those policies.
If you are in Student & Instructional Services and are now officially represented by USU, any new policy should only reflect the existing practice. It should not change the rules for taking time off (though it may result in individual supervisors enforcing rules which they previously ignored). If you experience a change, talk to your steward or email info@universitystaffunited.org.
Have feedback about this system or your experiences taking sick time more generally? Fill out our bargaining survey to help us fight for something better!