The Sick Leave Bank (SLB) provides 100% income replacement if you need to be out of work and you don’t have enough of your own accrued time, for your own illness or injury, to care for a family member, or for parental leave, with eligibility criteria and term-length limitations.
The Sick Leave Bank Board is made up of PSU and UMass administration representatives (3 of each at UMass Amherst, 2 of each at UMass Boston).
At UMass Amherst, the PSU members of the SLB Board are: JoAnne Martone, Jennifer Shiao, and Liz Tousignant.
At UMass Boston, you can contact your SLB representatives for help at psu.slb@live.umb.edu. The Boston PSU members are: Tom McClennan (Thomas.McClennan@umb.edu) and Apostolos (AK) Koutropoulos (A.Koutropoulos@umb.edu).
For questions or to get help with your Sick Leave Bank application, contact one of the Sick Leave Bank Advocates.
SLB Policy
For Sick Leave Bank policy, see the 2020 – 2023 Unit A Contract – see Section 20.2 (p. 47) and Appendix A (p. 95).
SLB eligibility and term length
Important caveats
- All of your accrued sick days, and all but 10 vacation days, will be exhausted before the bank is used for your income replacement.
- Your sick, personal, and vacation days will accrue to the bank while you are drawing from the SLB.
Your own illness/injury
- You are eligible to draw from the SLB for your own illness/injury on your first day as a member of the PSU bargaining unit, with appropriate documentation from your doctor/health care provider.
- You can be granted up to 12 weeks at a time (you can apply for more time).
Care for a family member
- You are eligible to draw from the SLB to care for a sick or injured family member after you have been employed by UMass for six months, with appropriate documentation from your family member’s doctor/health care provider.
- You can be granted up to 26 weeks.
Parental leave
- For birth, adoption, or foster care placement.
- You are eligible to draw from the SLB for parental leave after you have employed by UMass for six months.
- Additional big caveats:
- If you have been employed by UMass for fewer than 12 months (and greater than 6), your allowable term is 8 weeks.
- If you have been employed by UMass for 12 months or more, your allowable term is 26 weeks.
SLB Donations
- PSU has bargained the right for members to voluntarily donate their sick time to the SLB, once per year in October. If you have at least 14 days of accrued sick time, you can donate in 1-day increments, as long as you keep 10 days for yourself.
