Definitions
Accrue - Accumulate.
Annual Review Date - The date established by the university on which performance evaluations covering the preceding 12 months' performance of classified and/or professional/administrative staff will be completed.
Administrators - The term administrator as used in this document shall refer to the Executive Vice President and University Provost, the Vice Presidents, the Deans, and those persons who are designated by the President as having unit- or university-wide administrative functions of substantial significance to the University. All such administrators shall be appointed by the Board of Trustees on the recommendation of the President and shall serve at the pleasure of the Board.
Child: A biological, adopted, or foster child; a stepchild or child of a qualifying adult; a son-in-law or daughter-in-law; a legal ward; or a person for whom the employee or the employee's qualifying adult has (or had during the person's youth) daily responsibility to care and financially support and who is either under 18 years of age or is incapable of self-care because of physical or mental disability.
*FMLA Eligibility Note regarding child definition: The Federal Family & Medical Leave Act does not recognize or confer benefits on an employee's "qualifying adult," a parent-in-law, a son-in-law, or a daughter-in-law. The inclusion of these individuals in the university's family and medical leave policy is intended solely to provide equivalent family and medical leave benefits to other members of the employee's household that are within the University's discretion and control. The inclusion of these individuals in this policy does not create any statutory entitlement to such benefits under Federal or State law.
Classified Position - A regularly established position assigned to a classification which, by definition under the Fair labor Standards Act, would not be exempt from overtime provisions of the Act.
Continuing treatment: Under "serious health condition."
Continuous Service - The total amount of unbroken employment which an employee has accumulated. This includes authorized leave without pay.
Court Appearance - An appearance in court (e.g., for lawsuits, divorce cases, or traffic violations) on an employee's behalf or when subpoenaed to appear in court.
Creditable Service - Any and all periods of employment which may be used toward earning the next higher rate of annual leave.
Demotion - Occurs when an employee moves from a position in one class to a different position in a different class assigned to a lower pay grade,, or when the position which an employee occupies is reclassified from one class to a different class assigned to a lower pay grade.
Department - As used in these policies, refers to the appropriate budgetary unit within a college, school, or division.
Eligible employee: Any employee who has been employed by the University for at least 12 months, and who has worked for the University at least 1250 hours during the last 12 months immediately preceding the leave. All regular full-time and part-time faculty and staff are presumed to be eligible for family and medical leave, in proportion to the employee's FTE (percent of regular working hours, based on employment status).
Employment Date - The effective date of the current period of continuous employment. This includes both full-time and part-time temporary and regular service.
Full-time Equivalent (FTE) - The percentage of full-time the employee is assigned to work. Full-time would equal 100 percent.
Health care provider: A person authorized to practice as a health care provider in Kentucky or Indiana who is performing within the scope of that practice as one of the following:
- Doctor of medicine
- Doctor of osteopathy
- Podiatrist
- Dentist
- Clinical psychologist
- Optometrist
- Chiropractor (for manipulation of spine to correct subluxation)
- Nurse practitioner
- Nurse midwife
- Christian Science practitioner listed with the First Church of Christ, Scientist in Boston, Massachusetts Clinical social worker
- Any health care provider from whom the university's group plan will accept certification of a serious health condition
- Any health care provider within the scope of practice listed above practicing in another state who is authorized to practice in that state.
Immediate Family Member - Biological, foster or adoptive parent, a stepparent, spouse, qualifying adult (see definition), a biological, adoptive or foster child, a step child, a legal ward or a person whom the employee has (or had during the person's youth) daily responsibility and financial support, mother, father, brother, sister, son, daughter, husband, wife, mother-in-law, father-in-law, brother-in-law, sister-in-law, son-in-law, daughter-in-law, grandparents, and grandchildren of both the employee and spouse or qualifying adult.
Improvement Plan Period – Up to a maximum of 90 calendar-days imposed by a supervisor when an employees attendance or performance is first determined to be less than satisfactory.
Intermittent leave or reduced leave schedule: A leave schedule that reduces the usual number of hours per workweek or hours per workday of an employee. Intermittent leave is calculated on an hourly basis, as a proportion of the employee's normal workweek.
Job Classification - A specific job title assigned to a classified or professional/administrative position which identifies the appropriate pay grade and including all individual positions assigned the title.
Job Family - A group of job classes, involved in the same occupation, through which promotional movement most generally occurs.
Jury Duty - Serving as a member of a jury when required by law.
Layoff Status - A condition lasting for one year from the date of notification of a RIF in which a staff member whose position is eliminated is entitled to certain rights (see section IV. Provisions) including preferential treatment in seeking reemployment with the university.
Longevity - The amount of time a staff member has worked at the university based upon continuous service, including time in regular positions held prior to the current position.
Non-continuing Appointment - An appointment for a specified period of time not to exceed a twelve-month period.
Overtime (Pay) - The time-and-one-half pay which a classified employee must receive for working more than 40 hours in a workweek.
Parent: A biological, foster, or adoptive parent or parent-in-law; a stepparent; a legal guardian; or a person who has (or had during the employee's childhood) daily responsibility to care for and financially support the employee.
Pay Grade - The level assigned a classified or professional/administrative position identifying the minimum and maximum pay rates.
Performance Standards - The expected and acceptable level of performance of each of the major components of an individual position. Where possible, acceptable performance levels will be quantified.
Position - A specific, defined, established set of duties and responsibilities to be performed by a person on a regular basis.
Position Information Questionnaire - A statement of job duty or responsibility indicated with a percentage expressing its relative importance as a portion of the total job identified for purposes of establishing the basis for performance evaluation. Example: types (handwritten or tape) correspondence with responsibility for correctness of grammar and punctuation.
Professional/Administrative - A position subject to the University's position classification plan meeting the exemption test prescribed by Kentucky Labor Law as determined by the Human Resources Department.
Promotion - Occurs when an employee moves from a job in one grade to a job in a higher grade.
Provisional Employment Period - A six-month period of employment beginning with the first day of regular employment designed to provide the University with a period to determine whether an employee is suitable for and competent to perform the work for which he or she is hired. Termination from employment may be accomplished without specific reasons and without the right of appeal (unless there is a claim of unlawful discrimination). No discrediting entries will be made in the personnel file. The employee or the employer may end the employment without notice.
Provisional Staff Member - A classified or professional/administrative staff member in the provisional period.
Qualifying Adult- A Qualified Adult is an individual in a domestic partnership with an Employee or Former Employee. For this purpose, an individual will be considered to be in a “domestic partnership” with an Employee or Former Employee if the following conditions are satisfied: Such individual is the Employee’s/Former Employee’s sole domestic partner and intend to remain so indefinitely; Such individual and the Employee/Former Employee maintain a common residence and intend to continue to maintain such common residence, or do not currently maintain a common residence due to an international employment assignment or other employment-related, financial, or similar obstacle; Such individual is at least 18 years of age and mentally competent to consent to a contract; Such individual and the Employee/Former Employee share responsibility for a significant measure of each other’s financial obligations; Such individual and the Employee/Former Employee are not married or joined in a civil union to anyone else; Such individual and the Employee/Former Employee are not a domestic partner of anyone else; Such individual and the Employee/Former Employee are not related in a way that would prohibit legal marriage in the U.S. jurisdiction in which the partnership was formed; Such individual and the Employee/Former Employee provide documentation demonstrating fulfillment of these requirements, and certify that they understand that willful falsification of the documentation required to establish that an individual is in a domestic partnership may lead to disciplinary action and the recovery of the cost of benefits received related to such falsification. Notwithstanding the foregoing, an individual shall not be treated as a Qualified Adult for purposes of a Component Program unless any and all documentation of the relationship required by the Administrator or Insurer is filed with the Administrator by the Employee or Former Employee, as applicable.
Qualifying Period - Six-month period of employment used for reviewing the level of performance for classified and professional/administrative employees with regular status who are transferred or promoted to another position.
Reclassification - Occurs when the position which an employee occupies is changed to a class assigned to a different title or pay grade.
The Redbook - The official statement of the organizational structure, the rules of governance and procedures, and the University-wide policies of the University of Louisville. Its policies and procedures and those contained in the Resolutions of the Board govern all actions of the University and all relations with the University, including administrative and faculty contracts.
Reduction in Force (RIF) - The abolition of an occupied position due to an elimination of or reduction in funding, reduced or changed work requirements, or department reorganization.
Reduction in Force Plan - A department head's proposal for eliminating a position including position title, justification for abolishing the position, reallocation of work load if applicable, information regarding the staff member affected by the reduction in force, and the layoff date.
Reduction in Force Status- See layoff status.
Reemployment Roster - A list of employees on layoff status being actively considered for reemployment within the university. Employees are retained on the list for maximum of 12 months.
Regimen of continuing treatment: Includes a course of prescription medication (e.g., an antibiotic) or therapy requiring special equipment to resolve or alleviate the health condition. A regimen of treatment does not include the taking of over-the-counter medications such as aspirin, antihistamines, or salves, or bed-rest, drinking fluids, exercise, or other similar activities that can be initiated without a visit to a health care provider.
Regular Status - Status attained upon satisfactory completion of the provisional employment period.
Serious health condition: An illness, injury, impairment, or physical or mental condition that involves either or both of the following:
1. In-patient care in a hospital, hospice, or residential care facility
2. Continuing treatment by a health care provider
For an employee to qualify for family and medical leave for a serious health condition, the employee or family member must be under continuing supervision of, but not necessarily receiving active treatment by, a health care provider, who must certify to one of the following:
1. In the case of leave requested to care for a family member, the employee is needed to care for the family member.
2. In the case of leave requested for the serious health condition of the employee, the employee is unable to perform the essential functions of the position.
A serious health condition involving continuing treatment by a health care provider includes any of the following conditions:
1. A period of incapacity of more than three consecutive full calendar days plus two visits to a health care provider:
- the two visits must occur within 30 days of the beginning of period of incapacity and first visit must be in person and within seven days of the first day of incapacity;
- continuing treatment can be prescription drugs only
2. Any period of incapacity due to pregnancy or prenatal care;
3. Any period of incapacity due to a chronic serious health condition;
4. A period of incapacity that is permanent or long-term for which treatment may not be effective (e.g., Alzheimer's, severe stroke, terminal stages of a disease);
5. Any period of absence to receive multiple treatments either for restorative surgery after an accident or injury or for a condition that would likely result in an incapacity of three or more days in the absence of medical treatment (e.g., cancer, severe arthritis);
6. Allergies or mental illness resulting from stress, but only if they meet all of the other criteria of a serious health condition;
7. Substance abuse, but only if the employee is taking leave for treatment by a health care provider.
Service Date - The beginning date of employment as a provisional/regular status employee of the university.
Shift - The regularly scheduled hours of employment for any employee or group of employees.
Spouse: A husband or wife, as recognized under the laws of the State of Kentucky or the state where the employee resides.
Straight-Time Pay - Any pay owed to a classified employee at the regular hourly rate.
Temporary Employee - A person employed in a position that is established for a limited period of time not to exceed six months.
Trainee - An employee who is being taught the basic skills of the position and who is on provisional status until the end of the training.
Transfer - A lateral move which results when an employee is moved from a position in one class to a different position in the same class or to a different position in a different class assigned to the same pay grade.
Unlawful Discrimination - Discrimination prohibited by federal or state law, regulation, or statute, such as discrimination on the basis of age, color, disability, national origin, race, religion, sex, sexual orientation, or Vietnam Era Veteran status.
Workday - Those days, Monday through Friday, on which the university is in normal operation.
Year: Twelve months measured backward from the first date family and medical leave begins.