Printed on: 02/10/2026. Please go to policy.umn.edu for the most current version of the document.
University of Minnesota  Administrative Policy

Faculty, Academic Professional and Administrative Employee Medical Leave and Academic Disability Program (Self)

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Policy Statement

Faculty, Academic Professional and Administrative (P&A) Employees Medical Leave and Academic Disability Program (Self) entitles Eligible Employees of the University of Minnesota (University) to take paid leave for their own medical condition.

Eligibility

This policy applies to Faculty and P&A employees. The amount and length of paid medical leave depends on the Eligible Employee's appointment and the reason for the leave. See Appendix: Paid Medical Leave Eligibility and Provisions for details. 

Employees who are not eligible for this policy’s paid medical and disability leave include:

  • Civil service employees
  • Union-represented employees
  • Student employees
  • Adjunct or clinical faculty from outside the University
  • Affiliate appointments
  • Professionals-in-training

Academic Medical Leave 

If Leave is less than 14 Calendar Days

Medical leave is available to Eligible Employees who are missing time in whole or half day increments per illness or injury for the treatment of themselves in the following cases:

  • A physical or mental health condition that prevents an employee from performing their work duties for any period of time.
  • To undergo a medical procedure including match testing, donating bone marrow or an organ or partial organ.
  • For personal medical and dental appointments.

In addition, medical leave is available for reasons allowable under the ESST policy.

You must report your use of medical leave in half-day or full-day increments, including the dates of the leave, as soon as possible.

Academic Disability Program

If you take medical leave on an intermittent/reduced schedule or continuous basis and are out for more than 14 calendar days, you will need to file a claim with the University's Leave Administrator. The vendor will request and review the medical documentation and make a claim determination. For payment details, please see Medical Leave Payment provision below.

If Leave is less than four months

If approved leave extends beyond 14 days, your benefit will be paid at 100% of your covered earnings in accordance with the University's Academic Disability Program. Benefits will only be paid if the claim is approved by the Leave Administrator at the time of payment. 

If Leave is greater than four months

If approved leave extends beyond the end of the third month, your benefit will be 66⅔% or 100% of your covered earnings based on years of service in accordance with the University's Academic Disability Program. Benefits will only be paid if the claim is approved by the Leave Administrator at the time of payment.

If Leave is greater than 12 months

Academic long term disability is available after 12 months of continued approved leave. Any benefit would be paid by the Leave Administrator with continued certification of disability through the maximum benefit period in accordance with the University's Academic Disability Program.

Medical Leave Provisions

The medical leave will run concurrently with any other paid or unpaid leave policies or laws as allowed. 

Medical Leave Payments

Medical leave payments are paid by the Eligible Employee’s department according to scheduled biweekly earnings, which may not exceed 100 percent of the Eligible Employee’s salary as of the last full day of active work. If an Eligible Employee is scheduled to receive pay for a period less than 12 months, medical leave pay is not provided during the months for which the employee does not receive pay.

An otherwise Eligible Employee who has been granted a full or partial unpaid leave and is subsequently medically unable to work during any portion of that period will not be paid for the percentage of the appointment that is treated as unpaid leave.

Eligible Employees who are absent for more than 14 calendar days will not receive paid medical leave under this policy if the Leave Administrator determines that the employee’s situation does not meet the definition of disability.

Return to Work

The University or its Leave Administrator may ask for return to work documentation. This documentation includes a written statement from your healthcare provider about your ability to return or any restrictions and the reason for them. The University offers services to help employees with disabilities or medical conditions that require reasonable accommodations at work.

Reason for Policy

This policy implements Board of Regents Policy: Employee Work-Life and Personal Leaves.

Contacts

SubjectContactPhoneEmail
General Information or Procedural Assistance
  • Primary: Leave Specialist
  • Secondary: Local campus, college, or administrative unit HR administrator
  • Other (as needed): Office of Human Resources consultant

612-624-8647; 800-756-2363

Local Campus, College or Administrative Unit HR

[email protected]
Accommodations/AdjustmentsUReturn Specialist

612-624-3316;

612-626-1333;

218-722-5232 (Duluth)

 
Employee Benefits InformationOHR Contact Center 612-624-8647; 800-756-2363[email protected]
Responsible Individuals
Responsible Officer Policy Owner Primary Contact
  • Vice President, Office of Human Resources
  • Senior Director - Total Rewards
  • See Contacts Table above

Definitions

Eligible Employee

An eligible employee is defined in the Appendix: Paid Medical Leave Eligibility and Provisions

 

Responsibilities

Faculty Member or P&A Employee

  • Report your use of medical leave following departmental and/or campus, college, or administrative unit procedures. Leave should be reported in half-day or full-day increments, including the dates of the leave, as soon as possible.
  • After 3 days of continued absence, request leave through MyU and work with the Leave Administration team.
  • File a claim with the Leave Administrator when medical leave is expected to or does exceed 14 calendar days.
  • Provide appropriate medical documentation to Leave Administrator in support of return to work or continued inability to work, as requested.

University Leave Administration

  • Establish guidelines and develop policy procedures.
  • Communicate guidelines, procedures, and expectations.
  • Coordinate with the Leave Administrator to manage medical leave requests.

Unit

  • Refer employees to the Leave Administration team for guidelines, procedures, and expectations.
  • Work with the employee for accommodations, return to work and leave updates.
  • Work with the Leave Administration team for any questions, concerns, return to work or leave updates.

Leave Administrator

  • Receive, review, approve or deny employee’s request for paid medical leave beyond 14 calendar days.
  • Work with the Leave Administration team for any questions, concerns, return to work or leave updates.

Related Information

As you consider your options under this policy, please also consider the following leave policies, which may or may not apply to your situation:

History

Amended:

December 2025 - Comprehensive review. Policy split into 2 policies as described below.

Comprehensive Review. Enactment by the Minnesota Legislature of the Minnesota Paid Leave Law ("Law"). The Law's implementation impacts other leave policies of the University requiring minor policy changes to promote consistency and clarity regarding the various leaves available to employees. MN Paid leave provides two types of partially paid leave: Medical Leave for an employee's serious health condition and Family Leave covering leave to care for relatives, bonding leave, leave to support a military family member called to active duty, leave to respond to certain personal safety issues. The amendments to this policy result in two policies that are more aligned with the new MN Paid Leave Law: Faculty, Academic Professional and Administrative Employee Medical Leave and Academic Disability Program (Self) and Faculty, Academic Professional and Administrative Employee Medical Leave (Family). The amendments also permit the use of the leave for ESST reasons.

Amended:

December 2022 - Changes are due to OHR centralizing the leave of absence administration process.

Amended:

July 2019 - Major Revision.

  1. Provides links to disability program, and new definitions to be consistent with changes in law regarding definition of spouse.
  2. Includes minor updates to FAQ and procedure for clarity.
  3. Eliminates paragraph regarding “Wellness Program”.
  4. Clarifies that if leave exceeds 10 days, employee must provide documentation to disability vendor; unit administrator/supervisor responsibility is to track the leave.

Amended:

June 2015 – Updated to reflect wording changes due to the upgrade from PeopleSoft 8.9 to PeopleSoft 9.2 in April 2015. Wording changes only, no substantiative provisional changes. Deleted outdated forms (absence card). Updated Human Resources phone number in Contacts section.

Amended:

January 2012 - Disability vendor replaced The Standard. The definition of serious health condition was updated to reflect the changes to the definition in the Family Medical Leave Act. General edits and clarifications made.

Amended:

October 2008 - The following revisions were made and became effective October 14, 2008:

  • The title of the policy changed to Paid Medical Leave & Disability Benefits for Faculty and Academic Professional and Administrative Employees from Sick and Disability Leaves for Academic Employees.
  • The leave of absence provided for paid sick leave is no longer termed “informal sick leave” and “formal medical leave.” The term “medical leave” now encompasses both of these past sick leave provisions for a total of three consecutive calendar months leave available per physical or mental health condition that prevents the employee’s performance of any portion of their work duties.
  • Eligibility criteria for faculty and P&A employees for paid medical leave of absence provided with greater specificity. (Refer to language under the Policy Statement and Appendix A: Paid Medical Leave Eligibility and Provisions.)
  • Faculty and P&A employees otherwise eligible and holding an appointment of 50 percent up to 67 percent time are provided with a total of 10 regularly scheduled work days of paid medical leave per fiscal year to care for or arrange care for a dependent child. The provision for self did not change.
  • Eligible faculty and P&A employees are now required to contact the disability insurer if medical leave of absence extends or is expected to extend beyond two weeks.
  • Limited provision provided for eligible faculty and P&A employees to care for or arrange care for an employee’s immediate family member (as defined) because of a serious health condition (as defined).
  • Provision documented for reasonable use of medical leave for personal, medical, or dental appointments or for family member appointments when the presence of the employee is required.
  • Clarification made concerning the University’s right to request an authorized health care provider’s documentation/certification at any time throughout a period of leave.
  • Documentation of use of medical leave is required for half or whole day absences during the normal workday.
  • Departments and/or college or administrative units to provide to eligible faculty and P&A employees guidelines and procedures for reporting use of medical leave.
  • Language included to strongly encourage responsible administrators/supervisors to work with faculty and P&A employees in allowing for reasonable scheduling flexibility to accommodate participation in University Wellness Program offerings designed to improve employee health and wellness.

Amended:

March 2008 - Administrative Policy: Sick and Disability Leaves for Academic Employees converted to the new University-wide format for Administrative policies.

Amended:

April 2007 - Additional edits to clarify pro-rated sick time for part-time employees.

Amended:

February 2007 - Language contained in the Administrative Policy: Sick and Disability Leaves for Academic Employees incorporates policy information previously contained in Board of Regents Policy: Sick and Disability Leaves. This administrative policy supports Board of Regents Policy: Employee Work-Life and Personal Leaves that supersedes several Board policies concerning personal leaves.

Amended:

November 1990

Amended:

August 1988

Amended:

May 1985

Adopted:

June 1983

Effective:

June 1983

Supercedes:

Administrative Policy: Sick and Disability Leaves, Board of Regents Policy Sick and Disability Leaves.