Carnegie Mellon University

Paid Sick Days

Several cities and states, including the city of Pittsburgh, have passed laws to make paid sick days available for employees to support public health and wellbeing. CMU complies with sick leave regulations in all applicable jurisdictions where employees are based.

  • Employees in Pittsburgh, California, New York City or Washington, D.C.: See below for details on eligibility, accrual and instructions for requesting leave in Workday.
  • Employees at other locations: Contact the Leaves team for information on eligibility and accrual, or to request paid sick leave.

Eligibility and Accrual by Location

Select your work location below for specific eligibility, accrual and usage details. Employees working in locations other than those listed should contact the Leaves team for information on applicable paid sick leave policies.

Eligibility for Pittsburgh Paid Sick Days

  • Non-exempt, hourly employees not eligible for PTO:
    • Accrue one hour of paid sick time per every 35 hours worked, up to a maximum of 40 hours per calendar year
    • Eligible to carryover up to 40 hours of unused, accrued paid sick time to the next calendar year.
  • Exempt employees not eligible for PTO:
    • Accrue 40 hours on January 1 of each year
    • Ineligible for carryover of unused, accrued paid sick time

Accruing and Using Pittsburgh Paid Sick Days

  • The City of Pittsburgh Paid Sick Days Act provides eligible employees with one hour of paid sick time for every 35 hours worked, up to a maximum of 40 hours in a calendar year.
  • Employees who are eligible for paid time off through the university (including PTO, Special Faculty Vacation, Library Faculty Vacation, and Local 95 Sick Time) are not eligible for Pittsburgh Paid Sick Leave.
  • After 90 calendar days of employment, eligible employees may begin to use accrued paid sick time for their own illness or medical care, a family member's illness or medical care, or in the event of a declared public health emergency.
  • In most instances, unused, accrued paid sick time may be carried over to the next calendar year up to an annual maximum accrual of 40 hours.
  • Employees will not be paid for unused sick time upon separation from the university.
  • Refer to the Paid Sick Days Act Ordinance and Guidelines for the permitted use of paid sick time.

Eligibility for California Paid Sick Leave

Any employee who works for more than 30 days per year in the state of California and who is not eligible to receive PTO or Special Faculty Vacation is eligible for Paid Sick Leave.

Accruing and Using California Paid Sick Leave

  • California's Paid Sick Leave Law provides eligible employees with up to 40 hours of paid sick leave on an annual calendar year basis.
  • On January 1 of each year, eligible employees will receive 40 hours of Paid Sick Leave. Eligible employees hired after January 1 will receive 40 hours of Paid Sick Leave on their first day of employment.
    • Eligible employees in the city of Los Angeles will receive 48 hours of paid sick leave each calendar year in accordance with local law.
  • Although Paid Sick Leave automatically accrues on the first day of employment, eligible employees must work for at least 90 days to be eligible to use Paid Sick Leave.
  • Eligible employees may carryover up to 40 hours of Paid Sick Leave from year to year. The accrual cap, or maximum amount of unused Paid Sick Leave an employee can accrue in total, is 80 hours.
  • Employees will not be paid for unused sick time upon separation from the university.
  • Refer to the Carnegie Mellon University in California Staff Handbook [pdf] for details on how this time can be used.

Eligibility for New York City Paid Safe and Sick Leave

Any employee who works in the city of New York and who is not eligible to receive PTO or Special Faculty Vacation is eligible for Paid Safe and Sick Leave.


Accruing and Using New York City Paid Safe and Sick Leave

  • New York City's Paid Safe and Sick Leave law provides eligible employees with one hour of paid safe and sick time for every 30 hours worked, up to a maximum of 56 hours in a calendar year.
  • New York City Safe and Sick Time may only be earned for hours worked within the city of New York. Hours worked outside the city of New York are not counted for purposes of calculating the safe and sick leave accrual.
  • Paid safe and sick time is accrued based on hours worked and is available for use at the end of each pay period. There is no waiting period for new hires.
  • Up to 56 hours of safe and sick time that is earned but not used may be carried over into the following calendar year.
  • Employees will not be paid for unused safe and sick time upon separation from the university.
  • Refer to the New York City Paid Safe and Sick Leave webpage for the permitted use of safe and sick leave.
  • Refer to the Addendum to Carnegie Mellon's Staff Handbook: A Human Resources Guide for Employees Based in New York [pdf] for details on eligibility and how this time can be used.

Eligibility for Washington, D.C. Sick and Safe Leave

Any employee who works for more than 90 days per year in Washington, D.C. and who is not eligible to receive PTO or Special Faculty Vacation is eligible for Paid Sick and Safe Leave.

Accruing and Using Washington, D.C. Sick and Safe Leave

  • The Washington, D.C. Paid Sick and Safe Leave Law provides eligible employees with one hour of paid sick time for every 43 hours worked, up to a maximum of five days of leave per calendar year.
  • Although eligible employees start accruing paid sick and safe time based on hours worked beginning on the first day of employment, an employee must work for at least 90 days to be eligible to use accrued time.
  • Accrued but unused sick and safe time carries over from year to year. However, eligible employees may not use, in a calendar year, more paid sick and safe time than the maximum number of days that the employee may accrue annually.
  • Employees will not be paid for unused sick and safe time upon separation from the university.
  • Refer to the Washington, D.C. Paid Sick and Safe Leave Fact Sheet [pdf] for the permitted use of accrued paid sick and safe time.

  • Refer to the Addendum to Carnegie Mellon's Staff Handbook: A Human Resources Guide for Employees Based in D.C [pdf] for details on eligibility and how this time can be used.

Requesting Paid Sick Leave

Employees in Pittsburgh, California, New York City or Washington, D.C. should make or correct their paid sick leave requests in Workday using the following instructions. Requests route to your supervisor for approval.

All other locations should contact the Leaves team to request paid sick leave.

  1. From the Workday homepage, select the Time Off worklet. If this worklet is missing from Your Top Apps, first click View All Apps.
  2. The Time Off screen displays. In the Request section, select Time Off.
  3. The Enter Time Off screen with the current month's time-off calendar displays. In the time-off calendar, click on the date you wish to request time off. The selected date displays in a blue circle. To unselect, click on the date again. When you are finished selecting, click on the Request Time Off button at the bottom of your screen. Note that the number of days you are requesting displays on the button.
    1. To request time off in a different month, toggle between months by clicking the back or forward arrows at the top of the calendar.
    2. You can request multiple days of leave in one request if the number of hours (Daily Quantity) is the same for each day. If the Daily Quantity varies, you must submit separate requests.
  4. The Enter Time Off pop-up displays. From the Type dropdown menu, select the appropriate sick leave for your location (Pittsburgh, California, New York City or Washington, D.C.). Note: If you do not see Paid Sick Leave as an option, you may not be eligible for the benefit. Please contact the Leaves team with questions about eligibility.
  5. In the Daily Quantity field, type the number of hours that you are requesting. When you have finished, click Submit to enter the time off request. The "Your changes have been saved" message displays, signaling that you have successfully requested time off.
    1. Error and Alerts Found! Message: Employees with multiple positions and student workers will receive an error indicating that you must now designate the position for your leave. Please continue to step 6 to assign the time off to the appropriate position and complete your request.
    2. Daily Quantity Notes: The minimum request amount is one hour. Requests can be made in half-hour increments. Request amounts cannot exceed your available balance.
    3. Attachments (Optional): To attach a supporting document, drop the file in the Attachments field or click Select files to search for the correct file.
    4. TES Employees: Leave requests default to your TES job management position and cannot be changed.
    5. Employees with Multiple Positions and Student Workers: Please continue to step 6 to indicate the appropriate position and complete the request process.
  6. Steps 6 and 7 apply only to employees with multiple positions and student workers.
    1. To designate the position you want to charge your leave to, click on the Errors and Alerts Found dropdown arrow. The Error Details screen displays the position codes associated with your eligible positions.
  7. Copy the appropriate position code and paste it into the Comment box. Click Submit. The "Your changes have been saved" screen displays, indicating that you have successfully requested time off.

Pending Requests vs. Correcting Approved Time Off

When correcting a request, first determine if the request is pending or if the time off has been approved. To correct a pending request, you will cancel the request and submit a new one. If the time off has been approved, the correction process depends on the value(s) you wish to change.

  • If a request was sent back to you to correct, the request is still pending.
  • If the request was denied, the request cannot be corrected. You must submit a new request.

Correction of Approved Time Off — Number of Hours vs. Date or Position

The process for correcting approved time off depends on the value(s) you are correcting. If you only need to change the number of hours requested, with all other values remaining the same, you can edit and save the original request. If you need to change the date or the position to which the time off was charged, you must remove the leave and submit a new request. Corrections of approved time off are routed to your supervisor for approval.

Steps

  1. From the Workday homepage, select the Time Off worklet. If this worklet is missing from Your Top Apps, first click View All Apps.
  2. The Time Off screen displays. In the Request section, select Time Off Correction. The Correct My Time Off screen with calendar displays.
  3. Correct a Pending Request (i.e., one that has not yet been approved by your supervisor): Pending requests appear as a gray bar in the calendar; approved requests appear as a green bar. To correct an approved request, skip to step 4. To correct a pending request, you must cancel and submit a new request:
    1. On the time-off calendar, click on the request (gray bar) you wish to correct.
    2. The Correct My Time Off screen defaults to the current month's calendar. To correct time off in a different month, toggle between months by clicking the back or forward arrow at the top of the calendar.
    3. The Time Off Entry pop up displays with the request auto-selected. Click "Cancel this Request."
    4. The Cancel Business Process pop up displays. Enter a comment (explaining the cancellation) in the Comment field and click Submit. The "Event Canceled" message displays when you have successfully canceled the request.
    5. Submit a new request with the correct information.
  4. Correct an Approved Request:
    1. On the time-off calendar, click on the time off (green bar) you wish to correct.
      1. The Correct My Time Off screen defaults to the current month's calendar. To correct time off in a different month, toggle between months by clicking the back or forward arrow at the top of the calendar.
      2. Any changes to approved leave are routed to your supervisor for approval.
    2. The Correct Time Off pop-up displays with the leave auto-selected. Confirm that the Select box is checked for the leave you wish to correct.
    3. The remainder of the process for correcting approved leave depends upon the value you wish to correct:
      1. To correct the number of hours requested, with all other values (i.e., the date and position) left the same, you can edit the time off.
        1. Edit the Daily Quantity field to the correct number of hours.
        2. Click Submit. The "Your changes have been saved" message displays.
      2. To correct the date or the position to which the leave was applied, you must remove the leave and submit a new request.
        1. Click on the minus sign next to the date of the request you wish to remove.
        2. Click Submit. The "Your changes have been saved" message displays.
        3. Select a day on the time-off calendar to begin your new request.

Contact the Leaves Team

Matt McCabe

Manager, Leaves Administration
Phone: 412-268-5899

Amelia Kephart

Senior Administrator, HR Disability Services
Phone: 412-268-5072