Pandemic Planning and Response

St. Olaf Department of Human Resources

Flu Season Absences:

One of the best ways to reduce the spread of influenza is to keep sick people away from well people. It is the expectation of the College that employees with the flu will stay home until they are past the contagious stage (24 hours after your fever has subsided without the aid of fever-reducing medication). We also recognize that some employees will need to stay home to attend to family members who have the flu. 

Hourly employees will generally follow the same policies that they do for any other illness that causes them to miss work:

  • Sick employees will use Paid Time Off (PTO) for the first seven calendar days for their own illness. Beginning on the eighth calendar day, they will be paid 60% of their wages with Short-Term Disability (STD). They will also supplement STD with Sick Leave Reserve (SLR) if they have a balance or PTO if they do not. If both SLR and PTO are exhausted, they will receive STD.
  • Employees will use PTO time for sick dependent children. If PTO is exhausted and they have SLR, they will use SLR.
  • Employees will use PTO time for other family members. Employees can also use up to four days a year from their SLR for family.

Hourly employees who do not have a balance of PTO or SLR can use up to five days of unaccrued PTO.  This will mean that their PTO balance will actually go negative for up to five days. As employees begin to accrue PTO time, it will be applied to the negative balance until it reaches zero again.

Salaried employees will also follow the same sick policies for exempt employees that apply for their own illness and that of their dependent children.  Like hourly employees, salaried employees can use up to four days of sick time per year to attend illnesses of other family members. Salaried employees who miss work to attend to other family members beyond four days will use vacation time. In the event that salaried employees have exhausted their vacation time, they can use up to five days of unearned vacation. As employees accrue vacation, it will be applied to the negative balance until it reaches zero again.

We will continue to monitor the need for time off as the flu season unfolds.

Roger Loftus, Director of Human Resources
-3068