Other Leave Types

Employees may take accrued sick leave in the event of the death of family member or person close to the employee. If an employee requires more than the time allowed for bereavement leave, they may request an unpaid personal leave of absence or may use any accrued vacation, PTO (if applicable), and/or compensatory time off, if available. Please see relevant policy or bargaining unit contract below for more details. 

Eligible employees may take time off the purpose of donating his or her organ to another person or for the purpose of donating bone marrow to another person. Eligible employees may take two hours of leave for the purpose of donating blood. Please see relevant policy or bargaining unit contract below for more details. 

If your leave requires an absence of three or more workdays, please see How to Request a Leave of Absence.

Eligible employees may receive time off for service on a jury or as a witness.

Please notify your manager and  provide a copy of your summons or subpoena to serve as witness as soon as possible after learning about your need to provide service. A leave request does not need to be submitted in HR Umbrella; please record jury duty as "Jury Duty" in HBS. Please see relevant policy or bargaining unit contract below for more details. 

An employee who self-discloses a problem of illiteracy may take unpaid leave to enroll and participate in an adult literacy education program, provided that the literacy leave is a reasonable accommodation that does not impose an undue hardship on the University. The employee must provide reasonable notice and may elect to substitute accrued vacation, PTO (if applicable), and/or compensatory time off for unpaid leave.

UCSF supports career-related professional development activities. Employees and supervisors should meet to discuss professional development available. Employees may request flexible or alternate work schedules, leave without pay, leave at full or part pay, full or part payment of fees and expenses. Generally, prior to requesting support for professional development, the employee should have completed any applicable probationary period and their performance should be satisfactory or better.

Please see the relevant policy or bargaining unit contract below for more details, including contracts that stipulate professional development for specific positions. 

An employee who wishes to voluntarily enter and participate in an alcohol or drug rehabilitation program may use FML for this purpose, if appropriate, provided that the employee is eligible for FML and has not exhausted their entitlement for the calendar year. If an employee wishes to voluntarily enter and participate in an alcohol or drug rehabilitation program but is not eligible for FML or has already exhausted their entitlement to FML for the calendar year, the employee may take unpaid leave for this purpose, provided that the rehabilitation leave does not impose an undue hardship on the University. The employee must provide reasonable notice to their supervisor.

To request Rehabilitation Leave, please see How to Request a Leave of Absence.

As of Jan. 1, 2024, UC’s leave options expanded to provide eligible employees with up to five days of protected leave following a reproductive loss. This change aligns with new California legislation.

An employee may take up to five days of Reproductive Loss Leave following a reproductive loss by the employee, by the employee’s current spouse or domestic partner, or by another individual if the employee would have been a parent of a child had the reproductive loss not occurred. “Reproductive loss” means a failed adoption, failed surrogacy, miscarriage, stillbirth, or an unsuccessful assisted reproduction.

If you need to request this type of leave, please reach out to the Leave Management office and they will provide you with guidance.

Visit UCNet for answers to frequently asked questions about eligibility and rules regarding this new form of leave.

School Suspensions

An employee who is the parent or guardian of a child who has been suspended from school may request time off to appear at the school in connection with that suspension. The employee must provide reasonable notice and may elect to use accrued vacation, PTO (if applicable), compensatory time off, and/or unpaid leave for this purpose.

School Activities

An employee who is the parent, guardian, or grandparent with custody of a child in grades Kindergarten through 12, or a child attending a licensed daycare facility, may take off up to 40 hours per calendar year (but no more than eight hours in any one calendar month) to participate in activities of the school or licensed daycare facility. The employee must provide reasonable notice and may elect to substitute accrued vacation, PTO (if applicable), and/or compensatory time off for this purpose.

An employee who is a victim of domestic violence, sexual assault, or stalking may take leave from work to obtain, or attempt to obtain any relief, including, but not limited to: a temporary restraining order, restraining order, or other court assistance, to help ensure the employee’s own health, safety, or welfare – or that of the employee’s child.

An employee also may take leave to:

• Seek medical attention for injuries caused by domestic violence, sexual assault, or stalking.

• Obtain services from a domestic violence shelter, program, or rape crisis center as a result of domestic violence, sexual assault, or stalking.

• Obtain psychological counseling related to an experience of domestic violence, sexual assault, or stalking.

• Participate in safety planning and take other actions to increase safety from future domestic violence, sexual assault, or stalking, including temporary or permanent relocation.

Employees should provide reasonable advance notice, if foreseeable, or as soon as possible. Employees may elect to substitute accrued vacation, sick leave, PTO (if applicable), and/or compensatory time off for unpaid leave.

An employee who is a victim of a crime, or who is a family member of a victim may take unpaid leave to attend judicial proceedings related to the crime. Employees must provide reasonable notice and may elect to substitute accrued vacation, sick leave, PTO (if applicable), and/or compensatory time off for unpaid leave.

UCSF will protect the confidentiality of records regarding an employee’s absence from work for these reasons. Before an employee may be absent from work for these reasons, the employee will provide a copy of the notice of each scheduled proceeding that is provided to the victim by the agency responsible for providing notice, unless advance notice is not feasible. 

An employee who performs emergency duty as a volunteer firefighter, reserve peace officer, or emergency rescue personnel generally may take unpaid time off to perform emergency duty when required. An employee who performs emergency duty as a volunteer firefighter, reserve peace officer, or emergency rescue may take up to a total of 14 days of unpaid leave per calendar year to engage in fire, law enforcement, or emergency rescue training.

An employee who is a volunteer member of the California Wing of the Civil Air Patrol who is directed and authorized to respond to an emergency operational mission may take unpaid leave to perform such emergency duty, provided that the employee has been employed by the University for at least 90 days immediately preceding the commencement of leave. Such leave will be granted for a period not to exceed 10 days per calendar year.

Employees may elect to substitute accrued vacation, PTO (if applicable), and/or compensatory time off for leave without pay. Employees may be required to provide documentation of participation in emergency duties or training.

Voting Leave

A non-exempt employee who is scheduled to work at least eight hours that day and does not have enough time to vote outside of the employee’s normal working hours may take up to two hours of paid leave at the beginning or end of a workday to vote in local, state, or national general elections or primaries. Any additional time off that is taken for this purpose is without pay. Employees who need time off to vote must inform their supervisors as soon as possible, and no later than two working days before Election Day.

Service as an Election Official

An employee may take unpaid leave to serve as an election officer on Election Day. The employee may use accrued vacation, PTO (if applicable) and/or compensatory time off for this purpose.