Leaves

Human Resources (Absence Management), the Office of the Vice Provost for Faculty Affairs (OVPFA), and schools/colleges, work collaboratively with faculty regarding leaves.

Human Resources’ Absence Management team administers the university’s leave program and are the starting point for faculty regarding all medical and military-related leaves.

Leaves can be paid or unpaid depending upon the type of leave and approval. With paid leaves, faculty continue to have access to their benefits throughout their time away. Temple University requires employees to use all unused sick and other accrued time when appropriate under the leave policy. When employees exhaust all paid time off, the balance of their leave becomes unpaid. With unpaid leaves, faculty are expected to pay their and the University’s share of the cost of benefits if there is a wish to maintain them.

There are three types of leaves of absence (LOA) available: medical, personal, and military. The granting of all leaves is a sole discretionary determination by Temple University.

Visit Human Resources for more specific information including eligibility, provisions, and contacts.

• Medical: For leaves that do not qualify under the Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA) or when additional time is needed after the expiration of an FMLA leave. Total leave time including FMLA, sick, vacation, other accrued time and personal days may not exceed one year.
• Military: For leaves associated with employees ordered to duty as part of military reserves or the National Guard.
• Personal: For leaves, approved in advance, of one year or less to meet personal and professional needs of a faculty member. When personal leaves are granted, the faculty member is expected to pay his/her and the University’s share of the cost of benefits if there is a wish to maintain them.

A special note for faculty on the tenure track: When tenure track faculty are approved for a leave, they may also be granted an extension to their tenure clock. A maximum of two one-year tenure clock extensions (in addition to the COVID-19 extension, when applicable) are permitted, for all reasons.

Personal Leaves

Eligible faculty can request a leave of absence (LOA) for personal or professional scheduled or unscheduled life events. LOAs are available for up to one year and are intended to cause minimal or no disruption to the faculty member’s primary responsibilities. For example, should a LOA start or end mid-semester, the faculty member’s college or school dean may shift or delay teaching responsibilities. Importantly, tenure-track faculty need not count a leave of absence toward the time allotted for tenure eligibility.

For personal leaves, scheduled or unscheduled, faculty complete a Leave of Absence Request form, available in TUportal (Staff Tools Tab->University Forms->Leave of Absence Request), as soon as they’re aware of their circumstances, and work with their school/college to discuss needs, have their school vet their request, and develop a coverage plan (if necessary and supported) that ensures minimal disruption. The completed Leave of Absence Request form with department chair and dean endorsements is forwarded to the Office of the Vice Provost for Faculty Affairs for consideration and processing. OVPFA-approved requests are forwarded to Human Resources’ Absence Management team.

Work Life Balance

When a faculty member is the primary caregiver after the birth, adoption or placement of a foster child into their home, they can request to reduce their workload by submitting a Work Life Balance Request. In most situations, this means limited teaching responsibilities while maintaining all research, administrative, and mentorship duties.

To move forward with this process, faculty must meet several requirements. To learn more about these requirements and place a Work Life Balance request, forms are available in TUportal and linked below.