Non-Occupational Injuries, Illnesses, and Health Problems

If you have a non-occupational injury, illness, or other health problem, you can use your sick leave benefits. The sick leave program pays your wages if you must be absent from work because of a personal medical appointment, illness, injury, or disability that temporarily prevents you from performing your job. You are eligible to use available sick leave hours after your first 30 days of employment.

The program also pays your wages when you are absent because of a medical appointment, illness, injury, or disability of your spouse or domestic partner, parent, grandparent, sibling, grandchild, or dependent child.

You can also use sick leave for the non-medical care of a newborn or a child recently placed for adoption, foster care, or legal guardianship; for the closure of your worksite or your child’s school or place of care by a public health official; and for reasons related to domestic violence, sexual assault, or stalking.

This topic focuses on using your City of Seattle Sick Leave benefits. The following topic, “Your Family and Medical Leave Benefits,” covers your other family and medical leave benefits from the State of Washington and the City of Seattle.

If you are sick or injured and are concerned that you could be off work for more than three weeks, you should also file for Long-Term Disability (LTD) benefits. See the “Long-Term Disability” section for more information on using your Long-Term Disability benefits.

Using Sick Leave

Sick leave is a paid leave benefit. You accrue sick leave based on the number of regular hours worked. Full-time employees earn 96 hours of sick leave per year. You may carry over unused sick leave from year to year. There is no maximum accumulation.

Local 27 has also ensured that you earn sick leave on your overtime hours, consistent with the City Ordinance, but at a lower accrual rate, and the rules differ from the sick leave accrual rules in our Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA). The rules are based on total hours worked, so those hours are deducted if you take any time off for any reason. In addition, the accrual is calculated on a calendar-year basis, not a pay-period basis.

Return to Work Form

The Return to Work (RTW) form is required only if more than 48 hours or two shifts are missed due to a non-occupational injury/illness or a dependent care-related absence. For admin members, the form is required if more than 32 hours are missed. The form must be completed by your healthcare provider and submitted upon your return to duty unless you miss work for more than six calendar days, in which case you must submit the form to the Disability Office on or by the sixth calendar day.

If the RTW form indicates that you are able to return to full duty, you must submit it to your officer or chain of command for review upon reporting for duty. The initial RTW must be completed no later than the date when the 48th hour is missed for Ops members or the 32nd hour for admin members.