Sick leave

Sick leave for full- and part-time staff allows you to care for yourself or a family member in case of illness, preventive care, or to obtain assistance or guidance in stalking, sexual abuse, or domestic violence. Please advise your supervisor that you'll be out. If you’re out more than 3 days, documentation may be required.

Family leave

As an employer in the District of Columbia, American University staff and faculty are eligible to apply for DC Paid Family Leave benefits for up to 12 weeks to care for a family member with a serious health condition.

DC Paid Family Leave runs concurrently with the DC and Federal Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), which provides job protection up to 16 weeks of unpaid time off for eligible staff and faculty, which can be requested on an intermittent or continuous basis to care for a family member or to manage the staff or faculty member’s own medical condition.

DC Paid Family Leave pays a percentage of your salary. Use the DC Paid Family Leave Weekly Benefit Calculator to estimate your weekly benefit. 

Bereavement leave

In the event of the death of a spouse, domestic partner, child, parent, grandparent, grandchild, or member of the employee's household. Staff and library faculty may use up to 10 days of bereavement leave without having to draw upon accrued sick or annual leave. 

In the event of the death of an extended family member, staff and library faculty may use up to 5 days of bereavement leave without having to draw upon accrued sick or annual leave. 

Advise your supervisor that you will be out on bereavement leave and record your time out of the office as "Bereavement Leave" on your time sheet or leave report.

Leave process

1. Complete the American University Leave Request form 30 days before the start of the requested leave, if known, or as soon as possible for emergency situations.

2. Contact Prudential Insurance to start a claim 30 days before the start of the requested leave, if known, or as soon as possible for emergency situations. See the Prudential Reporting an FMLA Absence or Disability brochure.

3. Apply for DC Paid Family Leave benefits on the DC Department of Employment Services website as soon as possible AFTER the qualifying event occurs.
   
   The AU leave plans that coordinate with the DC Paid Family Leave (PFL) require that you apply for leave under PFL in order to receive the university-provided benefits. Employees who qualify to receive a PFL benefit will have their university-provided leave benefit payments offset in an amount equal to the payment received from the District of Columbia. The DC PFL benefit will run concurrently with other applicable FMLA benefits. Additional details can be found below.

 

As with all benefits, you should refer to the appropriate section of the Faculty Staff Benefits Manual, applicable policy, or the official plan documents for more extensive information concerning your benefits plans. In the event of any conflict between the information on this website or the appropriate descriptive sections of the Faculty/Staff Benefits Manual and the official plan documents, the plan documents will govern.