Unclear on the Concept

Last week, an announcement from UCOP was circulated via email and is reproduced below. Among other things, it provides a kind of coronavirus leave for faculty who do not accumulate sick leave, i.e., ladder faculty, but just until December 31, 2020. This is very odd. At this point, all campuses are in the midst of their fall quarters or semesters. A reduction of one course in fall seems to make no sense, given the timing of the announcement.

Are faculty supposed to drop a course they have been teaching in the middle of the course? It might make sense if the announcement applied to winter or spring. But the December 31, 2020 deadline seems to rule winter or spring out.

To: Deans, Directors, Department Chairs, Administrative Officers and Faculty

Dear Colleagues:

On September 10, 2020, UCOP announced two interim exceptions for the APM-710 leave policy to provide additional relief to academic appointees during Fall 2020. These exceptions allow for faculty and other academics covered by APM-710 to use their sick/paid medical leave benefits if they are unable to work or telework because their children are not able to physically attend their school or place of care due to COVID-19 precautions.

Upon our request for implementation clarification, after consultation with the Office of General Counsel, UCOP announced in a memo issued on September 29, 2020 that for each campus, the Chancellor, under the authority granted in APM-710-24, can administer these policy exceptions by putting in place an approval process for this specified use of sick leave and paid medical leave.

Non-represented faculty who are not participants in a UCLA Health Sciences Compensation Plan (HSCP) and other academic appointees covered under APM-710 are eligible to request use of this benefit. For a list of eligible titles, see APM-710-14 (PDF). The use of sick leave for childcare for those appointed in the Lecturer titles is subject to collective bargaining and is currently not available for those titles.

Similar to the “Interim COVID-Related Dependent Care Modified Duties” program on our campus, the Chancellor has decided that requests for leaves and course releases be negotiated on an individual basis between faculty, deans, and department chairs. This allows us to achieve a balance between assisting faculty and enabling the academic and research mission of the University to continue. It will be necessary for chairs and deans to accommodate requests on a case-by-case basis, taking into account the curriculum of the department, the need to offer required courses, availability of alternative instructors, and the number of individuals requesting this leave in the Fall 2020 term. The Vice Chancellor for Academic Personnel must approve all of these requests.

Under this interim exception:

• Academic appointees who accrue sick leave may request to use accrued sick leave for childcare reasons due to the COVID-19 precautions. (APM-710-20)

• Faculty who do not accrue sick leave can request one (1) course or other equivalent workload reduction in Fall 2020, for childcare reasons due to the COVID-19 precautions. Based on the departmental teaching load, your academic personnel office will determine the corresponding amount of leave. (APM-710-11):

• Faculty with ten (10) years or less of UC service have two (2) quarters (24 weeks) of paid medical leave.

• Faculty with more than 10 years of UC service have three (3) quarters (36 weeks), within each subsequent ten (10) year period, of paid medical leave.

These provisions are in effect immediately through December 31, 2020, and do not affect eligibility for other University or Federal leave programs currently in effect, and may be taken before or after any other leave is used or exhausted.

Attached is the application form and directions for use by the faculty.

Emily A. Carter

Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost

Michael S. Levine

Vice Chancellor for Academic Personnel